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Viewing report
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Nigerian Internet User Survey
eShekels Limited, Jan 2008
The report analyses the Nigerian internet market, its expected growth levels beyond 2007. While outlining this growth to continue, it examines the trends and patterns internet usage would assume to include among other things, online transactions. This would not only enhance the economy but would foster latent opportunities that will develop from the new market. It’s a tool that will be used to enhance innovation, service delivery and greater profits
Internet utilization is at it’s infancy in Nigeria despite the fact that progress have been recorded in the industry. Infrastructure has remained the bane of not having internet accessible and widespread. This is one of the many challenges that have made internet vendors operate at high costs when providing internet access.
Currently, the Nigerian population welcomes the usage of Internet. This is hinged on the fact that the population of users grew from 1.61million, in 2003 to 1.77million at the end of 2004. Projections show a little over 2.2million users by the end of 2007. As impressive as the figures suggest, the country’s internet user population of about 1.8million and a penetration rate of 1.4% showcase a very low margin in a country with over 130million people. This penetration rate is lower than Africa’s penetration rate of 1.5%, and is not anywhere near what obtains globally.
Information remains the driving force behind the utilization of the internet in the country. The age groups of (18-24) years ranks highest when compared with other age groups. The sole reason for this development is the personal needs of users. Cyber cafes have turned out to become good access points for users to utilize. This has encouraged the growth of having access points outside the home and work place, while clearly showing that the demand for internet is high.
Future developments in this area points to the fact that accessing the internet will not be exclusively reserved by personal computers but may be adopted on multimedia mobile phones and laptops. This would make the internet access completely ubiquitous in nature. Furthermore, it is characterized by preferred access points, which have seen the VSAT in the lead, educational levels of users, and income patterns.
A compelling factor that is driven by the choices consumers make is determined by the speed of the connection. Though bandwidth speeds may vary and slow down to frustrating levels, it raises questions about faster and cheaper means of accessing the internet. It would most likely be underlined by the quality of service offered.
The daily use of the internet has become a pattern that is on the rise. The study gives a fresh insight to this understanding because over 20 percent of internet users accessing the net daily. Also, the average time spent by users is about an hour. Though internet subscription prices are high, there are opportunities for other internet and online activities to be exploited. These opportunities are beginning to shift for various purposes.
The challenge is to foster new dynamic ways of delivering access to a vast population and equipping them with the right tools of meaningfully engaging and exploiting the potentials of the internet. This will no doubt enhance the Nigerian economy when various models of online transactions are deployed.
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