GeoPoll’s Work Surveying Youth Through Mobile Phones

• Workforce Development: GeoPoll partnered with RTI International to target youth beneficiaries with SMS surveys and one way SMS messages during the USAID Kenya Youth Employment Skills Program. GeoPoll was able to identify new employers for K-YES to partner with and tracked long term employment outcomes with the youth trained by K-YES.
• JIACTIVATE Coalition in Kenya: As part of JIACTIVATE, a movement to engage Kenya’s youth in politics and community activism, GeoPoll deployed SMS surveys to 2,000 Kenyans between the ages of 15-35 to ask them about their biggest concerns in the lead up to the national election. Results showed that corruption, famine/drought, healthcare and unemployment were the leading concerns for the youth.
• African Millennials and Bank Loans: A GeoPoll study on Millennials in Africa found that many of the younger generations are turning to alternative sources of capital, and working side jobs or starting businesses funded by loans from banks and relatives. Agriculture was the most common source of secondary capital, followed by ICT and selling of commodity goods. GeoPoll also found that despite associated interest rates, 30% are borrowing from banks, while 23% borrow from relatives.
• Access to Financial Services in Nigeria: GeoPoll worked with USAID’s Development Credit Authority (DCA) to identify financing gaps in agriculture-related businesses. GeoPoll was able to reach more than 750 individuals across 15 states in Nigeria using mobile surveys. Results showed that while 75% of respondents would like to take out a loan in the next five years, only 24% had tried. In addition, 60% were unsure how they would contact a bank loan officer. USAID DCA was able to use this information to more strategically invest in the agricultural sector.
• Entrepreneurship Study: With GES and the US State Department, GeoPoll reached 1,000 entrepreneurs across Africa about entrepreneurship in their countries. Among youth, a lack of funding and lack of government support were cited as the biggest challenges to starting businesses. All respondents also cited financial literacy courses and business courses as some of the most useful resources for supporting their business.

High levels of youth engagement with GeoPoll surveys demonstrate that young people are technologically adept and willing to engage in mobile surveys. Through our market research, we have tracked youth perceptions on a wide range of topics, from monitoring food security to tracking indicators of violent extremism. If your organization is interested in learning more about GeoPoll’s services for youth development programs, please contact us here.

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A deeper look into the migration points to agricultural issues in sub-Saharan Africa. Challenges that plague farmers reveal potential areas for improvement in the agricultural sector. Fortunately, recent innovations in technology provide opportunities to drastically change rural lives for the better. Addressing agricultural issues through technology could potentially lead to retaining rural farming populations and a decrease in the overall poverty gap in sub-Saharan Africa.

In this post, we review challenges associated with rural farming in SSA, specific areas for improvement in agriculture, and technology’s potential for nurturing rural agriculture.

Challenges facing Rural sub-Saharan Africa

Climate change

Unlike many other places in the world, farmers in sub-Saharan Africa largely do not have irrigation sources to feed their crops with water. According to statistics published by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) 96% of agricultural land is entirely reliant on rainfall. Geological reliance on rainfall is due to the lack of economic and societal capacity to develop irrigation channels for farmers in rural SSA.

The impact of ecological reliance is further heightened by changing climates throughout the world. Increases in temperature, even if slight, are leading to crop losses. FAO explains that studies have shown wheat and maize crop losses with a change in temperature of only a degree or two. If no action is taken to combat the changing climate, FAO estimated that 20 percent of major cereal crops will be lost by 2050; thus, climate change is putting food and job security at risk throughout SSA and is influencing the shift from rural to urban.

Education

Education is more prevalent in rural sub-Saharan Africa than in the past. Data from a survey conducted by GeoPoll indicates that primary school attendance in Kenya increased 1.8% between October 2017 and June 2018. Although education levels are increasing, the education system is actually beginning to provide a disservice for rural farmers. Rural children in schools are taught formally, rather than practically. According to a report published by This education challenge encourages students to view urban life as a goal and symbol of success—which is drawing more and more young people to urban centers.

Population growth and unemployment

Population numbers in SSA are booming. According to FAO, “about 220 million rural youth will enter the working age in the next 15 years.” The increase in population has developed even more demand for too few jobs.

Research conducted by GeoPoll and other groups such as the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has shown a lack of appropriate employment in Kenya. GeoPoll data collected monthly between October of 2017 and June of 2018 shows a 2.7% decrease in full-time employment, a 1.5% decrease in part-time employment, and a 0.9% increase in full-time self-employment. These numbers affirm that Kenyans are struggling to find and maintain sufficient work. The lack of available employment is another factor driving rural youth to seek refuge in urban centers.

Areas of Opportunity

Impact of agriculture on poverty in SSA

Despite the outlined challenges, there are many areas of opportunity in sub-Saharan Africa, and studies show that improving agricultural production in the region would have a wide impact.

Leaders at The Borgen Project have stated that, “the impact of a nation’s agricultural system is still so significant that a one percent increase in agricultural per capita GDP would actually cause a decrease in the poverty gap five times larger than a one percent increase in per capita GDP of any other area.” This demonstrates that combatting evident challenges in SSA’s agricultural sector would be the most effective avenue for lowering poverty in the region.

Mobile phones

Decreasing the poverty gap in sub-Saharan Africa is a worldwide goal. According to statistics released by The Millennium Project, over 40 percent of all Africans do not have sufficient access to food. Similarly, about one in every three people in SSA are undernourished. Luckily, new advances in technology may be helpful in alleviating some of the poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.

Farmers in SSA are increasingly connected to technology in the form of mobile phones. Access to mobile technology provides farmers with interconnectedness that was not widely available in the past, and many companies have built mobile-based solutions aimed at the agricultural industry in Africa. These include everything from payment in and insurance platforms to those that provide farmers with advice, weather information, and more over mobile.

GeoPoll uses our mobile platform to reach farmers in rural areas of SSA via multiple modes, including SMS, mobile web, and voice calls, which opens up a wide range of opportunity for connecting with and conducting research with the agricultural sector. In the past, GeoPoll has reached farmers in SSA for groups including the International Food Policy and Research Institute, who conducted a survey on maize seeds with smallholder farmers in Tanzania, and Farm Radio International, who were looking to reach banana farmers in Uganda to assess the impacts of their educational programming.

GeoPoll conducts similar survey research in hard to reach areas of the world every day, allowing our partners to reach extremely targeted groups of farmers, market traders, or consumers and gain comprehensive understanding of the problems that plague agriculture in SSA. In addition to survey research, GeoPoll can send one-way communications or set up text-in campaigns which provide valuable information on weather, crop prices, and more. To learn more about how GeoPoll can help your organization achieve international development goals like those discussed throughout this post, please contact us today to learn more about our services.

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Is this an accurate description of African millennials?

Since the definition of the Millennial generational cohort by market researchers, those who fall into this age group have been described as entitled, lazy narcissists who still live with their parents.  Perhaps the biggest trigger for a global conversation was the feature article of the May 2013 Time magazine by Joel Stein.  It is particularly from this article that numerous sweeping assumption about millennials become the gospel truth. Many of us marketers have been caught up in the over-simplified characteristics that define millennials. Business decisions and marketing campaigns have spent millions of dollars based on these myths and wrong assumptions of this target demographic.

However, when we examine assumptions about Millennials further, you will find that most of the commonly referred to characteristics that have been used to define millennials have been used to describe nearly every other previous generation.

A New York cover article from 1979, at the height of the baby boomers generation, wrote of ‘The Me Decade’- Exports on America’s New Great Awakening. A Newsweek cover from 1985, at the height of generation X, focused on “The Video Generation” who they described as being caught up in documenting each and every aspect of their lives using the video camera. Fast forward to the year 2007, during the height of the Millennial generation, and again, the cover story in one of the Time magazine editions profiled “China’s Twentysomethings,” who were too busy living the good life to care about politics.

Based on similar perceptions of older generations in the past, have we managed to get it wrong about the Millennial generation? What are the myths and what is the reality around African millennials, who we often believe are fully mobile, connected and tech savvy? Mobile research and engagement platform GeoPoll has been looking into this question to provide clarity on the true habits and preferences of this much sought-after generation.

The defining factor

Globally, Millennials were born as the world entered a digital age; a generation that grew up with the internet and digital communications. This and their relative comfort with technology is the defining factor that sets millennials apart from previous generations. In Africa however, as various research studies confirm, Millennials have not been fully defined by the traits that have been seen in the developed world.

Mobile phones are ubiquitous in Africa. The leapfrog effect for many Africans, whose first interaction with technology is with mobile phones has had a tremendous effect, making Africa a mobile-first continent. However, amidst all the hype peppered with phrases such as ‘Silicon Savannah’, ‘mobile money’ and ‘Africa Rising’, there is a reality. The reality is that, on this tech revolution that is currently ongoing, the youth are the Mavericks as confirmed by various studies by GeoPoll in multiple African countries as well as by other research agencies.

The Myths, the Reality

a. African Millennials are young and the majority

Africa is by far the youngest continent in the world. Unlike everything we have heard before, millennials in Africa are not the youngest and neither are they the majority. The oldest millennial is around 38 years of age with the youngest being about 23 years old. Out of a population of 1.2Billion in the continent, those aged 19 years and below are at 51%. Millennials make up less than 30% of the continent’s population. A new generation which is the majority in Africa is here; Generation Z or the iGen cohort, of those between 15-20 years, are the young and they are the majority.

b.They are all mobile and connected

Although Africa has the highest growth rate in mobile phone penetration, there are only 420M unique mobile subscribers and a penetration rate of 43% in Africa against the global rate of 63%.  Internet penetration remains significantly lower. There are only 300 million internet users, a majority of whom access the internet via their mobile phones.  Currently, 75% of people in Africa are still offline. This is attributed to lack of basic infrastructures such as grid electricity; high data costs, and household income levels among other factors. Despite this, internet access, especially that via mobile phone subscription, is growing and predicted to reach 41 percent of Africa’s population by 2020.

c.They are mobile first; Have higher phone usage

One of the biggest defining characteristics of Millennials globally is their usage and dependence on mobile phones. Increased dependency on technology and a mobile first approach is being driven by African Millennials according to a recent GeoPoll rapid survey carried out among youth in five Sub-Sahara African countries between the ages of 18-35.

d.They are all on social media 

There are currently only 170 million active social media users in Africa, equaling a penetration rate of only 14% according to the 2017 Digital in Africa report by Hootsuite and We are Social.  Whereas the percentage of the African population that uses social media is quite low, these numbers vary from country to country.  Like their global counterparts, African millennials are increasingly using social media sites as tools for communication and a source of news and information. Social network platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have become an integral part of everyday life, and over 60% millennials who have access to the internet say they

e. That millennials are killing TV, Radio, and Print

Although social media has become the first point of breaking news in many regions, as seen in the percentage of those online and those on social media, in Africa, radio and TV are still king. Sub-Saharan African consumers watch TV or listen to the radio twice per day on average, while they access the internet only every second day.

However, African millennials have a different view on ownership in media and this is driving the diminished importance of live TV as the dominant communications channel. This is a generation that has become a ‘prosumer’- creating and consuming their own content on blogs, YouTube, and various other social channels.

f.They do not care about serious matters

The assumption that millennials do not care about matters to do with political participation, civic engagement or public affairs has been attributed to their ‘short attention span’.  This is a myth as has been demonstrated by various research studies carried out on this demographic.  A study in 2014/2015 by the Africa Barometer among a survey sample of respondents aged between 17-35 in 7 African countries shows strong evidence of interest in civic engagement, public affairs and politics among African youth. A more recent straw poll by GeoPoll in 2017 among a similar demographic in 5 African countries assessing their interest in public affairs shows concerns in levels of corruption, youth unemployment and distribution of national resources. Social media has become an important tool through which the connected Millennials voice their concerns and engage on the things that matter to them. This can be seen in movements and campaigns such as #BringBackOurGirls, #FeesMustFall, and #DataMustFall among others.

What next on engaging African millennials

Although African millennials are not young nor are they the majority in Africa, they have now entered the workforce in strong numbers. According to CA Global, today, those born between 1980 and 2000 are now of working age, and they are changing the operation of the workplace as they go. As a socio-economic group, Millennials are growing in power and investment potential.  In addition to reshaping the workplace, they are also influencing marketing and advertising strategies across the African continent. Learning how to work with Millennials has become increasingly important over the past few years, as studies have noted. This requires a shift in communication messaging, integrated communication through online and offline channels as well as have an understanding that the decision-making unit for Millennials has evolved.

The rise of Generation Z (iGen)

Generation Z, currently aged 22 years and below, are now the majority in terms of population in Africa. This is the first generation born into a fully technological environment. Although they seem similar to Millennials, especially in the use and uptake of technology, the iGens have some unique traits that must be examined more closely. As this next generation acquires more spending power and marketers begin to turn towards them, our focus should move to better understand this younger demographic in addition to the much-discussed African Millennials.

Our presentation on African Millennials was among the winners at the AMRA 2018 Forum scooping the 3rd overall best presentation. Download it here

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Update: Our presentation on African Millennials was among the winners at the AMRA 2018 Forum scooping the 3rd overall best presentation.

MYTHS & THE REALITY

Africa is inhabited by 1.2 billion people who make up approximately 17% of the world’s population. Despite beliefs that Millennials make up a large portion of the African population, they are less than 30% of this population according to the 2017 estimates by the Africa Development Bank. Africans aged 15 and below make up 41% of the continent’s population. Those below 19 years old are at 51%.

The assumptions that African millennials are young and the majority are among the many myths that have come to be accepted as the reality.  More often than not, the terms ‘ Many marketers often bundle the millennial generational cohort with that of Generation Z in their targeting and understanding of their behavior, attitudes and trends of this consumer demographic.

The Time magazine feature article of 2013 described millennials worldwide as more similar to one another than to older generations within their nations due to globalization, social media and the export of Western culture. But are all millennials similar? Do African millennials have the same outlook towards the future as their Western counterparts?

Are millennials similar to the next generation that is now more populous in Africa – Generation Z, in what ways are they similar and/or different, are they still the majority in Africa?

#AMRA2018

GeoPoll has sought to understand African millennials by examining the myths that have been believed and published about them, and we confirm some of the realities about this generation. To do this, we have compiled a presentation which we shall be presenting at this year’s African Market Research Association (AMRA) forum happening in Nairobi from 22^nd – 23^rd February 2018.

AMRA is a non-profit membership association for market, social and opinion polling research associations and organizations in Africa. The AMRA forum brings together marketing and social researchers for a 2-day forum that happens annually in different cities within Africa.

Our presentation will focus on the findings from various studies conducted by GeoPoll as well as data from various other agencies on millennials globally and in Africa. We hope you will join us for this exciting presentation and discussion, and read our previous studies on African Millennials and Youth Consumers.

Also, follow us on our twitter handle for live updates of the 2-day forum.

UPDATE

Our presentation on African Millennials was among the winners at the AMRA 2018 Forum scooping the 3rd overall best presentation. Download it here

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Internet usage continues to grow, in large part due to increased smartphone penetration in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. As at March 2017, Nigeria has the highest number of internet users in Africa at 91.88 million, with 81 percent generated via smart phones. GSMA predicts that, in 2020, there will be more than 700 million smartphone connections in Africa.

In our previous segment in this series, we sought to understand perceptions of free speech as it relates to social media through a straw poll survey among 4,213 youth in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. Read the report here.

In this segment, we explore insights into internet access, the role of the internet, and digital security among these same youth.

Data Costs & Affordability

Data costs continue to be a barrier to internet access for most Africans. Among countries surveyed, a majority of respondents in South Africa find the price of internet to be expensive (58%). A majority of Ghanaians (54%) also find their data costs high. More than half (52%) of respondents indicate that the cost of data in their county was affordable. However, 40 percent find the cost of internet data to be expensive.

South Africa has the lowest cost internet among the surveyed countries. Despite the lowest data cost compared to the other countries in the poll most South Africans feel that the cost is still quite high.

Youth on Social Media

Mobile data continues to be the most used means by which African millennials access the internet. In February 2017, GeoPoll conducted a rapid poll on mobile usage and media consumption: social network platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter form an integral part of everyday life with over 60 percent using social media as their primary source of information. Television comes a distant second at 25 percent, with newspapers being the least important source (6%).

Among the 4,213 respondents from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda, 17 percent (one in five) of respondents indicate they post more than 20 times a week on social media. Ten percent said they posted to social media between 11 and 20 times; 28 percent post 6 to 10 times per week; and 45 percent post less than 5 times per week.

 Internet Access & Net Neutrality 

There are ongoing projects by Facebook and Google to provide free internet through initiatives such as Free Basics and Loon, respectively. We sought sentiments on access to internet and awareness of these initiatives.

In response to “Do you agree with this statement: ‘some form of internet is better than no internet at all’ 1) I completely agree 2) I somewhat agree 3) I disagree 4) I strongly disagree,” most respondents (55 percent) completely agreed with the statement.

With regard to internet access initiatives, GeoPoll found that the program with the largest awareness is Free Basics with 74 percent, followed by Project Loon by Google (25%). In Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, Free Basics has the highest awareness.

Digital Security 

GeoPoll found that 38 percent of respondents have used a digital security software before while 62 percent have not. Most South African respondents indicated using multiple types of digital security software at 42 percent when compared to other countries. Uganda has the highest number of users who have used a Virtual Private Network (VPN) in the past.  Antivirus software is the most known and widely used form of Digital security software among youth in the polled countries. There is still low awareness and usage of any other forms of Digital security software.

About GeoPoll Straw Polls

GeoPoll is the world’s largest real-time mobile survey platform, reaching a growing network of more than 320 million users in 31 countries worldwide on a deeply granular level and at unprecedented scale. Through partnerships with telecom providers—and a multimodal platform powered by text, voice and web-based communications—GeoPoll enables organizations to gather quick, accurate and in-depth insights on anything from consumer preferences to access to basic government services.

GeoPoll leverages its platform to engage mobile users through ad hoc “straw polls” that provide insights into real-time sentiments of current events. This GeoPoll rapid survey was conducted in April 2017 among 4,213 youth in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda using the GeoPoll mobile application.

Straw Poll Specs

• Countries surveyed: Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda
• Language: English
• Mode: GeoPoll App
• Questionnaire length: 22 questions
• Median survey completion time: 20 minutes

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Based on a rapid survey conducted by GeoPoll earlier this year, over 50% of earnings by youth consumers is  spent on personal care. This is much higher than gambling. As noted in the report, gambling is becoming popular among male African Millennials in SSA due to their high affinity towards sports and the proliferation of local sports betting players.

As highlighted in that report, this is still a very nascent industry and in the survey on spending habits, only 3 percent of Youth consumers in SSA indicated that they spend part of their income on gambling.

In this deep dive report, we sought to further explore the effects of continued targeted marketing by betting companies towards this age group and get better insights into; exactly how much is spent, how frequently and on what, are the youth betting.

Gambling frequency

Most youth (54%) in SSA have tried their hand at gambling. Kenya has the highest number of youth who have participated in gambling or betting in the past at 76% followed by Uganda at 57%. Ghana has the least number at 42%

The frequency of gambling is highest among Kenyans compared to their fellow Africans. Whilst the rest bet mostly once a month, a majority of Kenyans bet once a week. As seen in the graph below, sports betting is the most preferred. The fixtures for football matches especially the English premier league are over the weekends.

Sports Betting
 

Among the most popular gambling options, football betting reigns in all other countries except in South Africa. Kenyan youths bet the most with 79% of bets placed on football matches.

In South Africa, lotteries are a more preferred gambling choice compared to football, casino, racing and poker.

Mobile usage

The mobile phone has become the most convenient tool for those gambling. 75% of those who bet do so using their mobile phones with Kenya having the highest number of mobile usage for gambling at 96%. South Africa, though having the highest rate of mobile penetration in Africa, has the lowest usage of the mobile for gambling at 48%.

The Jackpot

Kenya is the leader in the most amount of money spent on gambling. Unlike youth in other African countries, most Kenyan youth bet once a week spending about $50 per month mostly on football bets. Youth elsewhere spend less than 50USD a month and most bet only once a month.

The average amount spent on bets is below $50 per month. A majority have never won any amount above $50.

Mobile phones have become the African Las Vegas. Football betting and the popularity of English football leagues continue to grow in a symbiotic way with a growing youth population that continues to be defined by its uptake of technology. Although the stakes are not yet high, all the signs are there of a steady and unfettered domination of sports entertainment and gambling in sub-Saharan Africa.

This GeoPoll rapid survey was conducted in March 2017 among 3,879  youth in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania using the GeoPoll mobile App.

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As detailed in our earlier reports on the African Millennials series, Africa has the highest youth population in the world with 200 million people aged between the ages of 15-24. The current trend indicates that this figure will double by 2045, according to the 2012 African Economic Outlook report prepared by experts from the African Development Bank (AfDB)

Millennials across the world are defined by their uptake of technology. Affinity to technology by millennials world-wide and specifically so in the west is a study that is currently ongoing and continues to be a fascinating undertaking especially in regards to the African Millennials.

In our continuing series on Sub Sahara African Millennials, we sought to understand this affinity towards technology and more specifically, mobile technology among African Millennials.

Despite lack of access to smartphones and reliable internet connectivity, the level of uptake and penetration in Africa has hit major milestones in the last 5 years.  According to a report published by GSMA on Africa’s mobile economy in 2016, smartphone adoption in Africa has doubled in two years. Among Sub-Sahara African countries, South Africa has the highest number of smartphone subscribers at 34% followed by Nigeria, Senegal and Kenya.

Media Consumption

Like their global counterparts, African millennials are increasingly using download sites to access video entertainment and social media sites as tools for communication and a source of news and information. Mobile data continues to be the most used means through which African millennials access the internet. Social network platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and twitter have become an integral part of everyday life with over 60% using social media as their primary source of information. Television comes a distant 2^nd at 25% with newspapers being the least important source 6%.

The second screen phenomenon though not highly prevalent among African Millennials, is one that might change with time. 57% of African Millennials say they sometimes use their smartphone while watching TV, 35% said they are always on their phone. This can be attributed to data costs which are still relatively high in many African countries compared to the rest of the world as well as changing preference among this group on choice of entertainment.

Access to video entertainment among African Millennials is undergoing a significant shift.  There is decreased demand for bootleg DVDs generally across the countries that took part in the survey except in Ghana. According to the survey, more millennials in Africa are accessing their movies and TV series entertainment through online downloads. They spend the least time in the cinemas compared to the other ways of accessing video entertainment selected for the survey. Subscriptions to online video streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Showmax are still relatively low with a majority indicating that they do not use these services. Out of those who indicated that they are using it, Netflix is the most popular.

Usage Habits

When it comes to the most preferred mode of communication among millennials, Kenyan and Tanzanian Millennials prefer texting (62%) & (54%) whilst Nigerians and Ghanaians prefer calling through the mobile operator (58%) & (51%). Mobile data calls through WhatsApp and Facebook messenger are still not as widely used.

The use of social media platforms such as has become second nature to African Millennials’ lives; WhatsApp and Facebook rank among the platforms with the most usage. 56% have created and are most active on WhatsApp  , while 31% are active on Facebook. Not only do African millennials spend more time on their smartphones than on any other gadget on a daily basis, but they are also more likely to be on WhatsApp chatting. A majority (46%) are actively engaged daily in at least 1-3 WhatsApp groups.

Part of this study was to determine whether or not Sub-Sahara African millennials are addicted to their phones with typical signs of addiction being how often they use their phones, if they took their phones with them to the bathroom, where they placed their phones while sleeping, and if they walk around with a power bank. Whilst this survey does not serve as a psychiatric evaluation, 81% said they place their phone next to their bed while sleeping, 48% carry their phones with them to the washroom and 31% walk around with a power bank incase their phone runs out of battery power.

Phone addiction is starting to manifest itself among African Millennials as 48% use their smartphones while in the bathroom.

Mobile Apps

Not only do African millennials spend more time on social media sites, but they also spend as much time gaming. The most downloaded app by category are social networking, gaming, instant messaging, banking/finance, education, health & fitness.  Ugandan, Ghanaian and Kenyan millennials have more game apps downloaded on their smartphone than any other application. The use of power banks though evident is not yet prevalent.

African Millennials are vanguards of a future Africa and technology is becoming an integral part of it all. As younger millennials continue to make their impact felt in almost every sector, a mobile first approach is crucial for any company that seeks to reach this culture-rich group of image-conscious, educated and opinionated individuals.

This GeoPoll rapid survey was conducted in February 2017 among 2,861 respondents between the ages of 18- 34 in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria using the GeoPoll App.

Download a copy of this report with more detailed graphs.

Read our other reports on this series on African Millennials on spending habits and on side businesses.

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As seen our 2^nd report on this series on SSA millennials, image and how the youth are perceived is very important. There is an opportunity to instill an entrepreneurial mindset among those in college or working.  As noted in our 2^nd report on spending habits of youth consumers in SSA, there are knowledge gaps among African millennials on areas such as effective saving plans, wise investments and financial management. As noted in the report, when asked, many would like to better understand asset financing, entrepreneurship and investment opportunities available in their respective countries. The preference towards commercial loans by many, underscores these needs.

In a continuing series on Sub Sahara African Millennials, we sought to find out the percentage of youth Africans with side business running as they study or work day jobs. This is the third rapid survey in a series on what makes the African Millennials tick, their aspirations, hopes, affinity, and habits as well as get their thoughts on leadership, governance and their future in a digital age in the best way that they know how to communicate; using their mobile phones.

Agriculture tops ICT, entertainment, online business and logistics as the most popular form of side hustle for millennials in the East African Countries; Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In West Africa countries; Nigeria & Ghana, the youth are into less conventional sectors than those mostly associated with the youth such as ICT, entertainment and online businesses. In South Africa, Food & Beverage is the more popular side hustle for many youth.

Apart from Uganda that has the highest number of youth whose day jobs conflict with their side hustles, millennials in other SSA countries don’t experience this dilemma with many choosing either Agriculture, food & Beverage or less conventional side jobs. Interestingly, it is in Uganda where ICT is the next most popular line for side business, a very close second (20%) to Agribusiness (24.4%) among the youth.

Despite popular belief, not many young Africans have side hustles (37%). According to our survey, Nigeria has the highest number of millennials with side hustles (44.4%) followed by Kenya (40.8%). South Africa has the least with only 30%.

Out of those who indicated that they have side hustles, the main sources of their capital is in form of loans from  banks, relatives, mobile money and micro-finances in that order. Despite their more friendly repayment terms, Savings Cooperatives or Saccos as they are locally known, are the least popular among the youth and rank lower than mobile money loans, micro-finance loans or even bank loans.

Despite the known high interest rates charged by most commercial banks, young millennials in SSA still prefer borrowing from commercial banks (30%) then relatives (23%) before looking at other available options. This can be explained by the renewed focus and targeted marketing at millennials by most commercial banks in SSA. A good number of local and multinational banks have rebranded to have a more youthful look and feel with many introducing mobile banking, customized products and services targeted at millennials. Unfortunately, the same has not happened with many Savings co-operatives which are still viewed as old, boring, traditional, strict entities run by an older generation that does not ‘get’ the youth.

The most popular sources of loans among millennials for their side hustles are commercial banks, relatives, micro-finance, mobile money and Savings Cooperatives (Saccos) in that order.

From the survey, this trend of side hustles is fairly new among young millennials with a majority still in school and a few probably in their first job. Over 73% indicated that they have run the side hustle for less than 2 years. The earnings for many who engage in side hustles is below 200USD per month with over 30% of the extra income going towards  savings while 25% goes towards school fees and a further 20% going towards utility bills.

This GeoPoll Rapid survey was conducted in February 2017 among 1,762 young Africans in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania using the GeoPoll App.

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This is the second survey in a series on African Millennials in which GeoPoll seeks to understand just what makes the African Millennials tick, their aspirations, hopes, affinity, habits as well as get their thoughts on leadership, governance and their future in a digital age in the best way that they know how , using their mobile phones.

Close to 70 percent of Africa’s population now comprises of Millennials according to a 2011 Africa Development Bank report. Africans aged 16-34 account for 65 percent of the continent’s consumer spending (McKinsey 2013 report). The African millennials are vibrant, on the move, tech savvy and image conscious. They are upping their levels of education and are extremely optimistic about their future.

Although the youth unemployment hovers around 12 percent in SSA, young Africans with jobs are taking charge of their future by saving towards education with over 34% of their monthly spend being set aside for this. Among the countries that were part of this survey, Ghana has the highest rate of youth saving towards education at 46%.

Many young Africans in SSA who took part in the survey have jobs (51%), however, a good number still depend on their parents for their upkeep at 32%.

On the commercial side, mobile and e-commerce exists but they have not become part of everyday life for youth consumers in SSA. In East African countries where mobile payments are popular, youth consumers consider mobile payments as cash and  still  prefer it to other modes of payment (71 percent) for daily purchases. It is only in South Africa where credit cards are popular but only second to cash payments.

In a GeoPoll survey conducted in 2016 just after Black Friday online sale on ecommerce in SSA, mobile payments and cash on delivery were still the most popular among youth consumers. Read the full report from the survey here.

Although personal care takes up 56 percent of expenditure among the millennials, the youth in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana set aside a significant amount of their earnings for an investment in education. Advancing in education is one of the most important pursuits for millennials with many saying that they save up to 10% of their monthly earnings towards it. This is in comparison to buying a car, a house or travelling.

Interestingly, gambling is becoming popular among male African Millennials in SSA due to their high affinity to sports and the proliferation of local sports betting players. This is still a very nascent industry. 3 percent of Youth consumers in SSA indicated that they spend part of their income on gambling.

There are knowledge gaps among African millennials on areas such as effective saving plans, wise investments and financial management. When asked, many would like to better understand asset financing, entrepreneurship and investment opportunities available in their respective countries. This is proof that young Africans are striving for financial independence, prosperity and believe in their own ability to charter their own course with a strong belief in the adage “Education is the Key”.
This GeoPoll survey was conducted in January 2017 among 2,726 young Africans in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria using the GeoPoll App.

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