All postsMay 21, 2025

Factors Affecting Smartphone Adoption in Africa — Research by Qhala, presented at The Mobile World Congress — 2023

Technology adoption

The Mobile World Congress in Kigali brought together more than 230 speakers, 1400 companies in attendance from 90 countries. Among the keynote speakers were H.E Paul Kagame, the President of the Republic of Rwanda and Hon. Mrs Paula Ingabire, the Minister of ICT & Innovation in Rwanda. The conference held from 17th to 19th October focused on 4 main themes;

Accelerate Africa
HealthTech
Fintech
Powering Digital

This year, Dr Shikoh Gitau and Dr Wanjiru Mburu attended the MWC Kigali Policy Leaders Forum. The invite-only event brought together influential telecommunications leaders from across the continent. This year’s forum saw over 3,415 attendees, 10% being c-suite level with high level speakers in insightful panel discussions and keynotes tackling topics like the investment gap, handset affordability and bridging the digital divide.

Dr Shikoh and Dr Wanjiru presented Qhala’s findings on the GSMA case study in Kenya. The report, “Factors affecting Smartphone Adoption in Africa” investigated the primary barrier, smartphone affordability, it looked into the factors driving consumer willingness and affordability and what more needs to be done.

The main objective of the study was to focus on smartphone affordability and how this barrier shaped consumer behavior in smartphone acquisition, that is, the ability to pay, the desire to meet a need and the challenges to usage of devices in meeting the need.

The study carried out by Qhala, GSMA and Africa Practice included consumer surveys to gather behavioral insights on their willingness( preference for device features to meet their need) versus their ability(share of customer wallet) to acquire a device.

Qhala conducted this study in Kenya in counties with different characteristics;

Nairobi and Kiambu
Trans Nzoia (Kitale)
Nakuru
Isiolo and Meru
Kajiado
Kilifi
Muranga

The report presented looked at the following factors and how they affected smartphone adoption;

Smartphone cost
Smartphone features
Poor Internet connection
High Internet Cost
Smartphone Perception
Cultural & Religious Aspects
Smartphone content

The study investigated factors affecting willingness and affordability and suggested solutions for each.

The report also showed what it would look like for willingness and affordability when we measure value against effort.

What would the next steps of this study be?

To develop an ecosystem of partners; original equipment manufacturers(OEMs), community, financial service providers and mobile network providers.
To test the ecosystem model intra-country and evaluate it
To scale the ecosystem model to other countries in Africa.

The findings presented were able to inform leaders and other stakeholders where we are as a country and the affordability gap experienced as we strive to bridge the digital divide.

Find out more on the research findings presented by Dr Shikoh and Dr Wanjiru here