*Kasi Insights for its Brand Intelligence Tracker from 2021 offers a glimpse into how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the take-up of e-Commerce in Kenya and FinTech use in Nigeria

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Data gathered by Kasi Insights for its Brand Intelligence Tracker from 2021 offers a glimpse into how COVID-19 affected the take-up of e-commerce in Kenya and FinTech use in Nigeria.

These are both leading countries in terms of tech take-up and Russell Southwood looks at what the data is saying.

According to Kasi Insights, e-commerce is a rising market in Kenya that warrants significant attention as the revenue for this year (2022) is expected to reach $3,562 million.

Current user penetration is expected to be around 40.3%, but by 2025 this number is set to grow to 53.6%.

It鈥檚 important to understand what is meant by e-commerce in this context: it can be anything from a middle class Kenya with a credit card ordering online with Jumia to a less well-off Kenya using his or her mobile to connect with a seller on Facebook Marketplace.

In June 2021, consumers were asked what was their favourite or most used platform for e-commerce. Jumia came out on top of the pile. OLX is owned by Nasper.

The figure for Facebook Marketplace seems small alongside the others but maybe it鈥檚 just that it鈥檚 not the easiest or most trusted way to buy things:

• Jumia:聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 47%
• Kilimall:聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 11%
• OLX:聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽7%
• Alibaba:聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽聽6%
• FB Marketplace:聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽4%

Following mobile money services, 56% of the respondents reported that online purchases are the second most carried out activity on their smartphones.

Over half of the respondents use their smartphones for online shopping as opposed to instant messaging (49%) and entertainment (42%).

This was the case across genders and age groups; with only a 3% difference being recorded for online purchases between males and females, while the top 3 activities remained the same across the board amongst different age groups (Baby boomers, Gen X, etc.).

Respondents were clear in showing the importance of quality and pricing when shopping online. 53% of respondents ranked quality as their top consideration when purchasing online, while 45% ranked price as their second most important consideration.

As expected, shopping events (i.e. sales), meet the best of both worlds for Kenyans. Good quality items being sold for cheaper prices hit the spot for our respondents as they eagerly wait for Black Friday sales.

58% have shopped during Black Friday sales and generally searched for clothing items however, noticeable differences follow between genders, with more males searching for electronic items and females for beauty care/cosmetics.

In Nigeria, Kasi Insights looked at the take-up of Fintech services, most of which are delivered by mobile.

On the supply side, almost all banks (21) now have some kind of Fintech offer, even if it鈥檚 only accessing your bank account online. On the start-up side, the investor interest in Fintech created 114 Fintech start-ups.

However, supply does not always translate into demand. A March survey produced information on awareness and perceptions of these products and services.

47% of respondents had seen or heard about them but only 31% were currently using them.

Not surprisingly, the majority of the users are in the higher income categories. Unlike M-Pesa in Kenya, Fintech services in Nigeria are not yet convincingly a story of financial inclusion for lower income customer.

Of the respondents who currently use Fintech products or services, 56% have a combined monthly household income between 501 USD to 900 USD, followed by 27% between 901 USD to 1,800 USD.

From these respondents, around half (42%) are salaried employees while a third (33%) are self-employed or contractors.

This demonstrates that the current users of Fintech services are from the upper/middle class and economically active individuals.

For the services offered by traditional banks, they were used by 57% of respondents reflecting the higher income levels found in the sample.

However, there were another 33% who were aware of the products and services but were not yet using them.

Of the respondents who currently use traditional banks’ products or services, 36% have a combined monthly household income between 501 USD to 900 USD, followed by 30% with household income below 500 USD.

From these respondents, more than half (56%) are salaried employees and 16% are self-employed or contractors.

In Nigeria, the field of FinTech start-ups is a crowded one and they have yet to demonstrate two things: a) that they have yet made much of a dent in the traditional bank or financial services customer base; or b) where have made arguments that they deliver financial inclusion that they do so. (Piece extracted from Balancing Act-Africa)

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