Safaricom and mSurvey launch Consumer Wallet to map Africa’s cash economy
Safaricom which plays host to more than 25 million subscribers and the leading mobile service provider Kenya is collaborating with mSurvey, a data collection startup to launch a consumer wallet – an online platform using mobile and SMS to map Africa’s cash-based economy.
The Beta version of the software is set to go live this month as the set target group of the first test to be potential clients and corporate partners, including McKinsey Consulting
Said mSurvey CEO Kenfield Griffith.
The first set consumer subscription license will be available by August 2017 and on an annual basis. The product’s price model is being refined with a certain group of potential clients, this is not only going to solve the problem in Kenya but the Whole continents Problem. said, Griffith
Based in Kenya and operating since 2012, mSurvey harnesses Africa’s shift to digital to better track consumer preferences. The startup employs mobile phone-based surveys to gather data on various topics and market segments. mSurvey has received seed and venture funds from backers including Cross Culture Ventures and Alpha Angels. It also counts Safaricom’s Spark Venture Fund as an investor.
The Consumer Wallet partnership pairs mSurvey’s data research function with Safaricom’s internal resources and distribution network. Safaricom is Kenya’s largest telco, with 25 million (65 percent) of the country’s mobile subscribers.
In addition to its M-Pesa mobile money product ― used by 16.6 million Kenyans through a 100,744-agent network ― the company has been adding consumer and small business-based products to its mobile network. These include digital TV, the M-Kopa solar-powered lighting kit, Lipa-Na bill pay service and Little ride-hail app, which is now going head to head with Uber.
For the Consumer Wallet beta test, mSurvey will use daily SMS and text messages to track the cash-based spending of a 1,000-person sample drawn from Safaricom mobile subscribers. This will feed into the Consumer Wallet database tracking preferences and expenditures on items such as food, transport, education, and housing.
The Consumer Wallet launch follows a trend of consumer research in Africa becoming a formalized sector. A decade of growth and reform in many of the continent’s core economies, along with expansion in retail sectors, has driven demand for more detailed customer data.
Several global consumer-focused companies have expanded in Africa over the last decade, from Wal-Mart in 2011 to Netflix and e-Bay in 2016.
Big global research firms such as Nielsen and Euromonitor have been upping their African consumer research offerings. An American company, GeoPoll, has also built out a digital survey service and database in 20 African countries.
mSurvey expanded its core consumer research platform into South Africa in 2016 and is looking at moving into countries such as Zambia, Ghana, and Nigeria, according to Griffith. Though neither would name countries, both mSurvey and Safaricom plan to take the new Consumer Wallet beyond test market Kenya to other nations on the continent.
“To invest in Africa, you have to understand its consumers,” said Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore, on the value of the new platform to businesses looking to tap the continent’s cash-based economy.
Via Techcrunch.
