A Special Multiclient Sponsored Research Initiative Jointly Conducted by: JBB Research and North Africa Advisors
Assessing Risks And Opportunities For Banks, Device Makers, Telco Carriers, Infrastructure Suppliers, Solutions Providers, And All Other Key Players In The Sector.
JBB Research and North Africa Advisors are pleased to announced joint collaboration on a multiclient sponsored research initiative.
Background and Assumptions
With a population of over 80 million people, excluding Egypt, and high mobile phone penetration, North Africa’s Maghreb region is a perfect market for mobile payment platforms. The market is expected to expand in this emerging market under all scenariors, driven by the following drivers:
- The market has not emerged yet in the region as industry players have so far solely focused on establishing a basic consumer base for mobile phone services, essentially concentrated on basic voice features. The saturation of the voice category means consumers will be looking for other functions and mobile payments is likely to emerge as a feature of choice.
- The legislation has been unprepared to deal with the emergence of mobile payment but changes are on the way and new legislative frameworks are being establish to enable such platforms to expand.
- As a result, the financial sector is also bracing for changes with leading players looking to carve out a strong position in what could be a sea change in the financial sector.
- Meanwhile, the multi-billion dollar remittances from North Africa expatriates are likely to act as a stimulating driver.
- The emergence and subsequent growth of mobile payment is expected to spur activity in the mobile payment ecosystem, from enabling financial institutions to providing security capabilties.
Study Objective:
The study will be conducted in an effort to:
- To understand the key players, the mobile payment ecosystem, the current and future technology evolution, the current and future drivers and business models in the North African mobile payment market
- To understand the present and future demand for mobile payment services
- To understand the key distribution channels (carriers, banks, postal offices, etc.) in the mobile payment market
- To explore current issues, such as whether banks or carriers should regulate the market, liquidity shortages in rural areas, intercarrier interoperability issues, etc.
- To size the revenue opportunities and addressable market for key players like carriers, banks, handset vendors, solution providers, and wireless infrastructure providers.
- To identify and compare the differences between the major country markets in the North African region, taking into account size and growth expectations
- The research will also end with a set of recommendations for subscribing sponsors.
Client Value:
Today, mobile payment has become the next big revenue opportunity for many carriers, banks, handset vendors, solution providers, and wireless infrastructure providers worldwide. The North African region is no exception as it fit the needs of many North Africans who have limited resources or don’t even have a bank account. In fact, mobile payment solutions are perfectly tailored to North Africans, in this so-called mid-sized economies, as they are affordable and can leverage the growing popularity of cell phones and mobile data services like SMS in this region.
In many North African wireless markets (e.g. Morocco, Algeria, etc), low-income customers, which have limited resources and focus on low-end feature handsets, represent the large majority of the wireless market, and the primary target for companies focusing on mobile payment services.
Continent-wide, with 106 mobile payment services already available or set to go live in the coming quarters, the mobile payment market has become an overcrowded space in the African region. The level of competition in certain African markets like Nigeria, South Africa Uganda or Tanzania has increased fairly dramatically over the past few years. For instance, in Uganda 7 mobile payment services are now available. However, in the North African region, the mobile payment market is not as competitive and remains fairly underpenetrated despite the enormous needs. Additionally, the large majority of mobile payment systems remain fairly unsophisticated as most carriers offer AT or Air Time transfer systems. Thus, there is a need for more advanced mobile payment systems like MMT (Mobile Money Transfer) with international money transfer capabilities. In the coming years, the North African region is set to experience strong growth in the mobile payment space in the coming years. However, several issues need to be overcome before the market reaches its full potential.
This study will establish:
- The best practices toward mobile payment services
- The key issues that will need to be overcome before the market reaches its full potential.
- Interest in mobile payment services in the African region, and per country (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya, Egypt) from banks, carriers, consumers and other key players.
- Where are Wireless North African markets in terms of their mobile payment offerings.
- To size the revenue opportunities and addressable market for key players like carriers, banks, handset vendors, solution providers, and wireless infrastructure providers.
- Have they started looking at international mobile payment services.
In this study, we will research these and other related aspects that will impact the mobile payment services demand in 2010 and 2011. It will allow clients to:
- Gain an understanding of the mobile payment ecosystem, business/pricing models, distribution channels, market trends, drivers, risks/issues and opportunities
- Implement a successful strategy to take advantage of the mobile payment opportunity and based on the specifications of each North African country.
- Identify the Wireless North African markets with the highest growth potential
Who should benefit from this study
The North Africa mobile payment study will be designed to address the needs of the following industries:
- Banks and other financial institutions
- Money wire services
- Device manufacturers
- Telecom infrastructure and equipment manufacturers
- Telecom carriers
- Telecom solutions and software providers
- Global advisory, financial, investment and consulting services
- Others
Delivrables:
The study will be conducted simultaneously in North Africa, with Analysts on the field for data collection, interviews and other related research, and in the United States for in-depth analysis and reporting.
The research outcome will be in form of:
- A full report delivered in PDF format providing the detailed findings and recommendations
- A Power Point presentation reporting summary findings, highlighting what we have learned and strategic recommendations by key industry
- XLS file(s) providing the data and forecast details
- A two-hour presentation (optional: at client site) to go over the findings and providing strategic recommendations
The Analyst Team:
Two leading companies have joined forces to conduct state-of-the art research by leveraging their respective expertise. JBB Research brings unparalleled knowledge of mobile technology and trends, with proven experience in emerging markets. North Africa Advisors will contribute with their indepth expertise on the business environments and market conditions in North Africa. The Analyst team that will conduct the research will be lead by:
Julien Blin: Technology focus
Julien Blin is North Africa Advisors’ principal telecommunications Analyst where he focuses on trends in mobile and fixedline telephony sectors. He is also Principal Analyst and CEO of JBB Research, a leading research and consulting company focusing on the wireless and communications space. He is an experienced former IDC Wireless Analyst covering the U.S. Mobile Entertainment space. He is very familiar with some of the most talked about topics in the wireless industry such as mobile social networking, mobile user-generated content/services, mobile advertising and wireless data.
In his role, Julien is currently looking at how cutting edge technologies like mobile payment, mobile banking and mobile entertainment are expected to be adopted in the North Africa and across the entire African continent.
In 2008, Julien held an Equity Research position at Wedbush Morgan Securities, a leading sell-side investment bank in Los Angeles, where he was covering public companies like Amdocs, Garmin, Openwave, Syniverse, TCS, and Nuance. Prior to IDC, he held research/consulting positions at Maravedis and Northern Sky Research. Julien also held a position at Ovum Inc, and has experience in journalism.
Perfectly bilingual French-English, He has been quoted in leading industry publications and Web sites such as WSJ.com, Dow Jones, The New York Times, FORTUNE magazine, Business Week, Wireless Week, RCR Wireless Week, Telephony Online, FierceWireless, Telecomasia.net, Associated Press, InformationWeek, Red Herring, and Boston Globe.
Arezki Daoud: Market focus and economics
Arezki Daoud is the lead analyst at North Africa Advisors, acting as its current Chief Executive Officer. Arezki is a leading analyst on North African affairs and he has been editor of The North Africa Journal since 1996. The publication reaches over 60, 000 decision makers worldwide. Having lived and worked in North Africa, Mr. Daoud’s analytical expertise on the region spans from the energy and industrial sectors to security and political affairs. Arezki is familiar with the speech circuit and briefing the business and government communities on the countries of the Maghreb region and is widely quoted in the press.
Over the years, Arezki worked for various institutions, from Algeria’s Naftal, a Sonatrach subsidiary, in the late 1980s, to academia with North Shore C.College in Beverly, MA, and Harvard University in Cambridge, MA. Arezki also worked in the technology sector with IDG.
In addition, Arezki took part to a number of humanitarian campaigns, including with the International Red Cross, the EU, and the World Food Program.
Timeline:
The study will take 3 months to conduct, with month 4 dedicated for reporting. The report will be officially kicked off in May 2010, with August 2010 targeted as a report release data.
If you are interested in sponsoring or in the results, contact us at 508-981-6937 or by emailing us below.
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