InMobi wants Africa expansion

InMobi’s new director of Africa operations faces a tough challenge of coming up with a growth strategy for the mobile advertising network in a region where, though economic expansion has boosted the number of users, competition remains as fierce as ever, with price wars raging across much of the continent.

InMobi, the global mobile advertising network, appointed Isis Nyong’o as Africa vice president and managing director last week. Now present in South Africa, Africa’s second-largest telecom market after Nigeria, InMobi wants to quickly expand its geographical footprint and boost its customer base.

Growth in mobile advertising in Africa is being driven by two major factors. Africa is flooded with a number of local, regional and international telecom service providers all competing for customers, causing a price war among the providers and the increase in supply and use of cheaper and better phones.

In addition, improving economic conditions in the region have continued to encourage the uptake of mobile advertising as many people are now able to browse the Internet on their phones, as well as make calls.

Pointing to Nyong’o’s past achievements at Google, where she led business initiatives in Africa and specialized in mobile partnerships, InMobi hopes she will drive the company’s growth across Africa. Nyong’o also developed a marketing strategy for Kenya’s first online recruitment service, MyjobsEve.

“The availability of local content for use on mobile platforms is still a challenge, but I’m confident that we, in the mobile advertizing [sic] industry, can and will succeed in fostering a stronger content development focus on the continent,” said Nyong’o in a statement.

By Staff