Telecom
Tecno: Mobile Giant Behind Africa’s Growing Smartphone Adoption
In various mobile markets around the world, different mobile brands dominate different regions. So while Apple’s iPhone is the undisputed champion in America for instance, this is not particularly the case in every other big market.
In South America, Blu owns the biggest market share, while Samsung and Micromax are the most dominant mobile brands in India. The world’s most populous country, China, has Huawei, Oppo and Vivo holding sway respectively in a market that has about the stiffest competition globally.
But, how about in Africa? Data from recent research shows that Tecno Mobile has crawled its way up to dominate the African mobile space, doing remarkably well in its ten years of existence to emerge as the local king in Africa’s mobile industry.
Meet Tecno Mobile
Tecno Mobile needs no introduction, definitely not in Africa. Tecno Mobile is a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer.
The company was started in July 2006 in Hong Kong with its first research and development centre in Shanghai, China. The dynamic mobile multinational has definitely done well for itself in the African market.
In 2006, Tecno entered the African mobile market sphere and its 10 years stay, has covered more than 35 countries while dominating major markets such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, Cameroon, Ghana and so on.
However, after the African mobile market dominance, Tecno aimed at expanding this feat to other parts of the world and it succeeded.
Today, Tecno has extended its web to more than 48 countries around the world, across the Middle East, South East Asia and South America – this has made Tecno one of the mobile brands to reckon with, not just in Africa but also around the world.
Partnership with Famous Brands All Over the World
As a company that thinks outside the box, Tecno strategically partnered with some top-ranking brands such as, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MTN, Tigo, Airtel, Etisalat, Sony, Jumia, slot, Android, Mediatek etc. to continue keeping up with its maxim of giving its esteemed customers the best.
Why Has Tecno Been So Successful in Africa?
Understanding the market is key to a brand’s success and Tecno brand has understood the need for African consumers.
Year on year, the Asian multinational rolled out smartphone products targeted at different market segments and pegged at the right price.
“Quality is never compromised on Tecno products because at the core to the brand’s philosophy is innovation that is geared to keep product quality at par with global best as more mobile consumers embrace the brand, the company said recently while unveiling its global presence”.
In November 2007, Tecno released Africa’s first dual SIM phone the T780 to address the then problem of people carrying around several mobile phones due to poor Telecoms network infrastructure in the continent at the time.
Apart from the dual SIM cards, Tecno’s smartphones are reliable and the average life span of every Tecno product could last for over three years.
With this exploit, in 2010, Tecno was ranked among the top three brands in Africa also, according to a survey carried out in 2011, six out of every ten African use a TECNO dual SIM phone, this further increased Tecno’s market share to more than 27% within its dominant markets.
Smartphone Tailored for Every Need
Understanding that several mobile users have specific needs that regular smartphones cannot totally satisfy, Tecno has three mobile series that are tailored to satisfy a special need. They are:
BOOM series (music lovers): Tecno Boom smartphone series liaises with Boom Maxx to provide rich, crispy sound and allows users feel the perfect mega bass.
The Boom player on the TECNO Boom smartphone comes with a free digital content (Music & Video) application that allows music lovers to access a huge catalogue of music and videos from their favorite African and International artistes.
The Boom player is preinstalled with over 300,000 songs from over 4,000 signed artistes across Africa.
CAMON series (Photo lovers): Tecno Camon series provides the excellent capture experience. A lot of mobile users face the problem of capturing very high definition pictures in low light environment. Since the release of the Tecno CAMON Series, from the 5MP on the Camon C5, 8MP on the Camon C8 to the dual 13MP on the Camon C9, that limitation has been surpassed as Tecno had up to 500 professional engineers working for more than 285 days’ to produce the most suitable low-light camera on the Camon.
Phantom series (high-level business consumers): The Tecno phantom series, which is one of the best-reviewed annual flagships from the stable of Tecno, always drops with unconventional upgrades on mobile specifications.
The Tecno Phantom brands have proven in five years of its official rollout, that the product line is as competitive and appealing as any other top smartphone brand in the African market. And much to the Tecno brand’s delight, consumers are taking a liking for TECNO Phantom products.
In 2014, Tecno Phantom Z was rated the best smartphone in the Ghanaian mobile space; marking the second year in a roll for a Phantom to cart away the same award in Ghana. Last year’s phantom edition, the TECNO Phantom 6, was launched in September and is said to be the slimmest smartphone with dual rear lens camera.
Tecno: A brand with the best after-sales service for Africa
For the satisfaction of consumers, there is a special after-sales service center for every TECNO consumer. In the Nigerian market, there are 95 after-sales service centers in more than 60 cities in the country with over 400 local employees, that have been put on standby to attend to any after sale complaint whatsoever.
Tecno consumers who have an issue with their phone after just 3 days of purchase stand a chance of having their phone replaced and if the damage is not serious then, their device would be repaired within 12 hours.
The Community-Centered Business Takes Responsibility For Society
As a brand that believes in giving back, TECNO does all it can to take care of its host communities. It takes its various CSR projects very seriously and imbibes the CSR culture in its business module across its markets.
Through their various life-touching projects, Tecno has empowered several people. Some of such project is the Light Up Ikeja initiative; a CSR project executed in the first quarter of 2016 where Tecno installed Eighty plus (80+) solar-powered streetlights in the Ikeja electronic market (Popularly called Computer village) and its environs to help with the security challenges faced in the area. Other Corporate Social Responsibility projects executed by Tecno include: scholarships for pupils in public primary schools in Nigeria (Lagos), support of the Michael Essien Foundation in Ghana, amongst others.
Tecno Light Up Ikeja Project
It’s still a tough road ahead for Tecno, as no brand can survive the future by depending on its past or current accomplishments. By celebrating a decade of insightful leadership, giant strides and deserved successes, Tecno Mobile reiterates its commitment to its promise – “African mobile consumers deserve to Experience More”, and by offering consumer friendly devices and services through ever evolving innovation and technology, the multinational brand aims to consolidate on its gains and spread its tentacles all over the world.
As they would say, “it’s never enough to say, ensure you also show it”.
Dimension Data has said that the proceeds from its Series 1 corporate bond, will support the expansion of the company’s fibre infrastructure to meet Nigeria’s growing demand for digital connectivity.
This followed the successful subscription of the corporate bond.
Recall that Dimension Data Limited said that it has completed the signing ceremony for the issuance of N4.05 billion (approximately US$2.9 million).
This sum marks the first tranche of a N20 billion (US$14.7 million) bond programme announced earlier this year.
The bond programme was raised under Dimension Data SPV Funding Plc, following approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria.
The company says the proceeds will support the expansion of the company’s fibre infrastructure to meet Nigeria’s growing demand for digital connectivity.
Speaking at the ceremony, Olugbenga Olabiyi, managing director of Dimension Data Limited, said the investment reflects the company’s long-term commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s digital economy.
The planned investments will fund the continued expansion of Dimension Data’s fibre network, supporting increasing demand from financial institutions, fintechs, enterprise customers and other technology-driven sectors.
Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Johannesburg, the company has grown its footprint across the Middle East and Africa.
Today Dimension Data is a member of the NTT Ltd Group, one of the world’s leading technology companies.
As cloud adoption, digital financial services and data-intensive applications continue to grow, the company believes resilient fibre infrastructure will remain a critical enabler of Nigeria’s digital economy.
The Federal Government has announced that work will commence within weeks on a 90,000-kilometre fibre optic network expected to connect every state, local government area and ward in Nigeria, marking what officials describe as one of the country’s most ambitious digital infrastructure projects.
Dr Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, disclosed this on Tuesday after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the State House, Abuja, on the progress of three flagship digital transformation initiatives being implemented by his ministry.
According to the minister, all resource mobilisation and contractual processes for the nationwide fibre project have been completed, paving the way for physical deployment.
“We’re now at the point where, in a few weeks’ time, we should start to lay those fibre, so people will start seeing us around the country deploying the fibre. This is going to transform Nigeria for good,” Tijani said.
He explained that the project would deliver fibre optic infrastructure to every geopolitical zone, state, local government area and ward, significantly expanding broadband access and improving the quality of internet connectivity across the country.
“This is a project where every state, every geopolitical zone, every local government and every ward in this country will be covered with fibre optic cables, which will transform the quality of connectivity,” he added.
Bosun Tijani attributed the progress in the digital economy to a series of reforms approved by President Tinubu, including the designation of digital infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure, tariff adjustments and tax harmonisation measures sought by industry operators.
“I think our sector has been extremely fortunate. Mr. President has given us quite a number of things that the sector has been demanding for a long time. Whether it’s the Critical National Infrastructure designation for all digital infrastructure, the slight adjustment in tariff, or the tax harmonisation, these are reforms the industry has long requested.
“I think it’s probably the sector that is most appreciative of this government because when we came in, the sector was contributing between 16 and 18 per cent to our GDP, but today it is tracking close to 21 per cent. That represents significant growth,” he said.
The minister noted that the reforms had also improved the financial performance of major operators in the telecommunications sector.
On efforts to bridge the digital divide, Tijani disclosed that the government would begin deploying about 3,700 telecommunications towers from October to provide network coverage for more than 20 million Nigerians currently living in underserved communities without access to telecom services.
He said the President had approved the project after months of capital mobilisation and planning.
“Today we’re at a point where, before the end of the year, we’ll also start to deploy close to 3,700 towers. It’s taken a lot to put this project together and raise the required capital, but we are now ready to begin deployment around October,” he said.
The minister also announced that Nigeria would officially launch an alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, a move he said would place the country among a select group of nations operating an advanced digital addressing system.
“Nigeria will be amongst maybe 10 or 15 countries in the world with an alphanumeric postcode. It’s the latest design in postcode systems, where we can identify every property in this country. We’re hoping to launch that on the 1st of October,” he said.
Tijani explained that the new system would assign a unique address to every property nationwide, enhancing logistics, accelerating e-commerce, improving emergency response and strengthening public service delivery.
“Inability to locate places comes at a cost. You can imagine what this will do for e-commerce. It means goods can now be delivered in record time,” he said.
He added that integrating the postcode system with existing government identity databases would improve security and make public services more efficient.
“Our alphanumeric postcode is unique because it allows us to assign a unique address to every property. In many countries, such as the UK, postcodes cover clusters of buildings. What we are introducing will uniquely identify every building, and that will be a game changer for Nigeria in terms of security, commerce and public service delivery,” the minister stated.
In a bold move to strengthen Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and the digital economy, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has formally unveiled the National Sovereignty Cloud Initiative (NSCI) Regulatory Instruments, thereby setting a new benchmark for the country’s digital future.
NITDA
The NSCI is a strategic programme of the federal government coordinated by NITDA. It is designed to bolster Nigeria’s digital sovereignty and accelerate the country’s adoption of reliable cloud infrastructure. The initiative consists of the National Computing Guideline, the National Cloud Technical Guideline, the National Digital Infrastructure Assurance Framework, and the National Cloud Investment Strategy.
Speaking during the ceremony in Abuja, the Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi CCIE, described the NSCI as a strategic move to safeguard Nigeria’s digital future. He noted that the instruments will stimulate innovation, encourage investment in local cloud services, and enhance digital resilience.
“These instruments provide the regulatory certainty, technical standards, and assurance framework required to build a trusted cloud ecosystem that safeguards Nigeria’s digital sovereignty while creating new opportunities for investment, innovation, and sustainable economic growth.
“We should position ourselves not to serve Nigeria alone, but to serve West and Central Africa. Nigeria is already the digital gateway to West Africa and can extend to every part of Africa. But we can only realise that goal when we build our infrastructure. So, today’s event is the first step in that direction,” he stated.
Abdullahi appreciated the support of relevant stakeholders and the efforts of the NSCI Technical Working Group, which culminated in the successful development of the regulatory instruments. He emphasised that collective action of regulatory agencies is necessary for a seamless implementation of the initiative.
Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Engr. Nadungu Gagare, declared that the launch of the NSCI underscores the federal government’s commitment to safeguarding Nigeria’s data borders and digital economy.
“By ensuring that government data remains strictly within national jurisdiction and under local operational control, we are guaranteeing data sovereignty and regulatory compliance. It will catalyse local cloud capacity, foster local job creation, and empower indigenous investors and innovators to build solutions on a secure, locally hosted foundation,” Gagare said.
The Permanent Secretary commended the management team of NITDA, the NSCI Technical Working Group, and other stakeholders for their collaborative spirit in driving the initiative. He promised that the Ministry would ensure that the strategic objectives of the NSCI are fully realised across all ministries, departments, and agencies.
In a message, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr Olayemi Cardoso, congratulated NITDA for promoting a collaborative approach, adding that modern digital regulation succeeds through coordinated regulatory actions for common national objectives.
Cardoso, who was represented by Dr. Rakiya Opemi Yusuf, the Director of the Payment System Supervision Department, acknowledged that the launch testifies to the robust collaboration existing between the apex bank and other government institutions.
“CBN regulates the financial ecosystem. NITDA provides the national framework for digital infrastructure, cloud governance and assurance. These responsibilities are complementary, not competing. Together, they create a coherent national architecture.
“Together with NITDA, and with the continued cooperation of industry, we will continue to build an ecosystem that protects Nigeria’s financial system today and positions our nation as Africa’s trusted hub for digital finance and cloud innovation.
One of the most encouraging aspects of today’s event is the strong institutional collaboration between NITDA, the CBN, and other relevant government institutions. This collaboration demonstrates an important principle.”
Cardoso reiterated that as a responsive regulator, the CBN remains committed to providing clear expectations, firm principles, proportionate implementation, and constructive engagement with all stakeholders to position Nigeria as Africa’s trusted hub for digital finance and cloud innovation.
Also, the Managing Director/CEO of Galaxy Backbone Limited, Prof. Ibrahim Adeyanju, noted that the NSCI couldn’t have come at a better time than now, especially considering CBN’s recent directive mandating banks and financial institutions to localise their data.
Adeyanju expressed confidence that the initiative would push the ecosystem to greater heights by encouraging investment, developing indigenous talent, and creating employment opportunities akin to the gains brought by the deregulation of the telecoms sector.
NITDA will constitute the Sovereign Cloud Governance Committee (SovGov) within the next two weeks to oversee the implementation of the NSCI. The committee would comprise representatives from relevant Government institutions, sector regulators, industry, and the private sector, with NITDA serving as the Secretariat
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