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SA’s finance app downloads on downward spiral

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 17 Jan 2023

While finance app downloads in Africa showed huge growth between 2021 and 2022, with overall installs increasing by 41%, South Africa saw a decline of 11%.

This is according to a report by AppsFlyer and Google which looks at how mobile apps are transforming finance in Africa.

The research highlights a significant increase in finance app installs across the African continent between May 2021 and May 2022, as people turn to apps and technology as a way of managing finances, navigating economic uncertainty, and moving towards financial freedom.

More than 140 million app installs were analysed across 3 000 finance apps, and the research found that installs across Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya grew 25%.

Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya saw the biggest consumption of finance apps on the continent, with the former seeing a rise of 200% from the previous year; followed by Nigeria, which saw an increase of 33%. Kenya’s growth was recorded at 5%.

SA’s app economy had witnessed a huge increase from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as millions of locals took to online channels for entertainment, education, remote work and more – which boosted the app industry, leading to a major transition to a mobile-first approach among consumers.

However, coming from a high user base of apps across the board, SA’s app economy has slowed down, as consumer spending drops.

But across the African continent, between January 2021 and September 2022, app install advertisement spend for finance represented approximately 87% of total spend, confirming the dominance of the Africa’s finance industry, notes the report.

This figure represents the amount of money invested in advertising campaigns aimed at driving users to app stores to download an app.

Otávio Tranchesi, industry lead for finance at AppsFlyer, explains: “The tech sector in Africa has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years, but one industry that stands out is the financial sector. With smartphone penetration increasing, mobile is crucial for success. We’re proud to be working alongside so many companies spearheading this growth.”

According to research firm, Sensor Tower, global app installs dropped to 71.2 billion in the first half of the year across the App Store and Google Play, down 1.5% from 72.3 billion during the same time in the previous year.

Both apps stores experienced a decline in app downloads amid dropping consumer spend, it notes.

According to the annual “State of Mobile” report by mobile analytics firm data.ai (previously App Annie), consumer spending on mobile apps declined for the first time in 2022 after seeing 19% year-over-year growth the year prior.

It notes there was a 2% drop in in-app consumer spending, despite hours spent in Android apps growing 9% to reach 4.1 trillion.

The “State of Mobile” report highlights the impact of a down economy on what has previously been a thriving industry, which has over the years seen apps raking in more money than the year before.

Super apps charge

According to AppsFlyer, Africans have, over the past year, turned to finance apps as a way of navigating economic uncertainty, and moving towards financial freedom.

Although Africa remains the home of mobile money, the shift to digital wallets is in full swing, particularly in countries with high smartphone penetration.

Super apps, which already had a large presence in the African mobile market, have taken an even stronger foothold in the population over the last 12 months, as they aim to boost financial inclusion, notes he report.

Contenders in this space include Vodacom’s VodaPay, retail giant Massmart, Algeria-headquartered Yassir and Nedbank’s supper app, Avo.

“Combining features like payments, communications and e-commerce into one single application, super apps have found a home in a continent where 85% of new smartphones sold were classed as ‘low-end’ in 2021. We are now seeing many large African companies – particularly telcos – start to lean into this demand, building their own super apps to satisfy their audiences,” notes the report.

Acceding to AppsFlyer, Google Search trends show between May 2021 and May 2022, lending and currency conversions dominated in terms of interest related to finance on the continent.

Key countries contributing to this increase include SA, which led the way in "grant status” and “loan application searches”, recording 700% and 51% increases in search intent respectively.

There was also a large increase in South Africans searching for “currency conversions”, with a 74% increase in search intent for “euros to rands conversion rates”.

Nigeria topped the list in terms of “loan app” searches, with an increase in search intent of 68% in the country. In Kenya, the majority of people searched for “currency conversion”, with a 52% increase in search intent for “USD to KSH” searches.

Lizzie Kondowe, Africa apps lead at Google adds: “When we look at Google’s search trends, it’s clear that financial uncertainty is weighing heavily on many people across the continent. We’re seeing more and more apps come to market that aim to solve these problems, and so it’s no surprise to see installs rising. We’re proud to be working alongside AppsFlyer, to bring marketers the insights and tools they need to grow their apps.”

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