1. Brainstorming the West
African App Scene
Jean-Marie PREIRA
jmpreira@gmail.com
Christelle SCHARFF
scharffc@gmail.com
June 2014

2. Agenda
1.Introduction
2.Population needs
3.What works?
4.Difficulties and obstacles
5.What could work better?

3. 1. Introduction
 Sharing ideas and experiences
 The case of the SenMobile startup
 What works? The most successful and
profitable apps
 How can operators partner with
developers to drive the app industry?

4. About
 Mission: Building capacity & organize the mobile
community
 Bootcamps, courses, competitions, conferences, faculty
& professional training, mentoring, pilots…
 > 450 developers trained
 ~ 10 apps in the stores after mentoring
 Several winners of international competitions
 Participants became entrepreneurs and work in mobile
startups & compagnies

5. News
Entertainment
Accounting
Communicate
2. Population Needs
Mobile phones
Financial transactions
Games, videos…
News, information…
Voice
SMS, USSD
SMS, Data
Data
2G
3G

6. 3. What Works?
App downloads
Mobile money
SMS games

7. Mobile Money
 Real need
 Budget for
marketing and
communication
necessary

8. Most Downloaded Apps from Google
Play in Senegal
(Source: Distimo Holding B.V. June 9th, 2014)
Viber
Skype
Facebook
33, 37, 55
55 - 200
10,000 to 50,000 downloads worldwide
RANKING

9. 4. Difficulties and Obstacles
Ecosystem
Business
models
Content
Population
behavior

10. Ecosystem / Business Model
 Visibility of the
services
 Difficulty to establish
win-win partnerships
 Revenue sharing
[70%-30%(Op) VS
40%-60%(Op)]
 Service monetization
 Training not adapted
 Lack of funding
Financial and
investment
institutions
Regulator
Human
resources
Mobile service
providers
Companies
Startups
Operators
Service platforms
Customers

11. Content in Senegal
News TV Series
Radio programs Sport
 Content can create value
 Need of diverse and quality local content

12. Population Behavior
Is M4D really the solution?

13. SenMobile’s Experience
senmobile.com

14.  Live scores of local soccer games (sept. to feb. only) via web
site, SMS service and apps for Nokia, Android, BlackBerry
and Windows phones
 More than 2000 games covered since 2011
SenMobile’s Experience with
NawetaanLive.com

15. NawetaanLive.com: Content and
Services

16. NawetaanLive.com’s Timeline
 September 2011 - LAUNCH
 Summer 2012 - Initial contacts with operators for partnership to
scale
 September 2012 - Partnership with a radio; no finalized
partnership with sport organizations
 April 2013 – No finalized partnerships with news web sites
 April 2013 to September 2013 - Follow-up contacts with
operators
 January 2014 - Change of revenue sharing with operators
 February 2014 - THE END AFTER 3 SEASONS

17. 5. What Could Work Better?
 More adapted training offered at the college level
 More support and mentoring of companies in the production of local
content
 More funding
 More support and mentoring in the phases of development and
promotion of innovative services
 Win-win business model focusing on mobile service providers
 Opening of mobile payment API and exploration of other billing methods
 Development of partnership between content providers and aggregators

18. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
Jean-Marie PREIRA
jmpreira@gmail.com
Christelle SCHARFF
scharffc@gmail.com