E-Business
AppsFlyer Finds Economic Downturn Caused Declines in App Install Ad Spend Budgets

AppsFlyer has released the 16th edition of its Performance Index, ranking the top media sources in mobile advertising across 11 regions and 22 app categories.
The latest version of the Index, which originated in 2015, found the economic downturn had a significant impact on the mobile app media space throughout 2023, as nearly all top media sources saw declines and app install ad spend budgets reduced by 20% in the third quarter of 2023 when compared to Q3 in 2022.
“In a world where excellence is redefined by measurable outcomes, marketers around the globe are keen to boost efficiency, and unlock unprecedented success – the same applies to African marketers.
The key to shaping this future of business brilliance lies in embracing data-driven strategies – our latest Performance Index explores how unique economic conditions have impacted the overall market, providing valuable insights on marketing strategies during an economic downturn, and implores marketers to make the right decisions when it comes to budget allocations,” said Michael Zaitsev, Managing Director for Africa & CIS at AppsFlyer.
Apple Search Ads and Meta Lead the Way Across iOS Gaming and Non-gaming
The best way to properly depict the state of the iOS media market is by looking at a single source of truth (SSOT). AppsFlyer’s first ever SSOT iOS index combines SKAdNetwork and traditional attribution, and accurately deduplicates between the two data sources.
Apple Search Ads (ASA) is the #1 media source for iOS gaming apps and non-gaming categories, coming in at #1 in almost all the rankings across every region and every category with high quality and unmatched scale, particularly in non-gaming.
The dominance of ASA in non-gaming is even more pronounced than it is in gaming, coming in at #1 in all the rankings across every category and every region except for Latin America with unmatched scale and high quality.
Although still far from its dominant iOS position before iOS 14.5, Meta ads continues to adapt in the post iOS 14.5 era, coming in at #2 in the power and volume rankings (power rankings combine quality and quantity metrics while volume only covers quantity).
The social network’s performance is mostly fueled by non-gaming apps on SKAdNetwork, Apple’s privacy-centric attribution interface, where it drives the highest number of installs, well above the competition.
Google Ads came in at #3 in the rankings thanks to its scale among non-gaming apps. It should be noted that for Google, iOS is secondary compared to Android, especially when compared to its web business.
For gaming apps, Applovin ranked 5th in the global power ranking, driven by success in casual and hyper casual games, followed by Unity Ads in 6th place, thanks to a #4 rank in casual and hyper casual games. ironSource ranked 2nd globally in social casino, and 2nd in hyper casual games in Western Europe, Indian subcontinent, Latin America, and the Middle East.
For non-gaming, Meta ads ranked 2nd in the global power ranking, driven by its performance in Life & Culture where it ranked 2nd, while Google reached 5th place (3rd in the volume ranking) thanks to a #2 power ranking in finance. Snapchat and Moloco ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively thanks to top-notch quality.
E-Business
UK Orders Apple to Create Backdoor for Encrypted iCloud Data

United Kingdom has issued a “technical capability notice” to Apple, mandating that the company create a backdoor to access users’ encrypted iCloud data.
This directive, issued under the Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, requires Apple to provide British security officials with the means to retrieve all content uploaded to iCloud by any user worldwide.
Apple’s Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature, introduced in 2022, offers end-to-end encryption for iCloud data, ensuring that only users can access their information.
The UK’s demand challenges this security measure, potentially compelling Apple to either comply by creating the backdoor or withdraw the ADP feature from the UK market.
Compliance could set a precedent, leading other governments to request similar access, thereby raising global privacy concerns.
The UK Home Office has declined to confirm or deny the existence of such notices, stating, “We do not comment on operational matters, including, for example, confirming or denying the existence of any such notices.”
This development underscores the ongoing tension between governmental surveillance efforts and technology companies’ commitments to user privacy.
E-Business
Oracle Adds AI Pricing Features to Financial Software

Oracle on Thursday added another set of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to NetSuite, one of its corporate finance software offerings, including some that might make it faster for consumers to get a price quote on purchases like custom bicycles.
Oracle has taken a different tack with AI than rivals such as Microsoft. Rather than racing toward general purpose virtual assistants, Oracle has decided to add targeted features that speed common-but-tedious tasks like entering a brief write-up of how a sales meeting went into a corporate records system.
Another such task that is common in the business world is giving a customer a price quote on a complicated purchase that might have a lot of options, when a sales professional would need to sift through materials to come up with a price.
NetSuite on Thursday announced a feature to compile such a quote via conversation with a chatbot asking what the customer wants, which can either be used by sales professionals behind the scenes to speed up their work, or directly by consumers in the case of e-commerce businesses.
“When you buy something like a bicycle, you have to configure it – figure out what parts you want and which parts work together. We all do it when we buy our cars on the web these days,” Evan Goldberg, executive vice president of Oracle NetSuite, said.
“If you can configure (products) for customers more easily, you can do more deals in a day, or each deal costs less.”
To power those features, Oracle has decided to skip the costly race to develop huge AI models and instead works with partners such as Canadian startup Cohere.
Goldberg said that Oracle’s recent agreement to build massive data centers with ChatGPT creator OpenAI could lead to working with it as well, though the two firms have made no formal announcements.
“I think you could safely say that there’s a possibility that OpenAI will be part of this,” Goldberg told Reuters. “We are eager to work with OpenAI.”
E-Business
IBM Exits Nigeria and Ghana, Transfers Operations to MIBB

IBM, the American multinational technology giant, has reportedly announced plans to exit Nigeria, Ghana, and other key African markets, transferring its regional operations to MIBB, a subsidiary of the Midis Group.
The move, which according to TechCabal was revealed in a statement by the company, effective April 1 2025, is part of a new operating model IBM is adopting across select African countries.
Under this arrangement, MIBB will take over IBM’s local operations, customer support, and relationships while marketing and selling IBM products and services across 36 African nations.
“MIBB will market and sell IBM products and services in 36 African countries, thereby giving MIBB’s sales network direct access to IBM products, services, and support, further boosting innovation and growth in the region,” IBM stated.
IBM has been a key player in Africa’s tech industry for decades, providing critical infrastructure for banking, telecom, oil and gas, and government services.
However, its planned exit follows a trend of multinational corporations leaving Nigeria.
In December 2024, Swiss cement giant Holcim announced its departure from Nigeria, selling its 83% stake in Lafarge to a Chinese firm.
Similarly, South African grocery retailer Pick n Pay disclosed plans in October 2024 to exit Nigeria by selling its 51% stake in a joint venture.
IBM has yet to respond to media inquiries regarding the specifics of its transition strategy and reasons for the exit.
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