mlearning initial findings - ghana november 2011

mLearning Research Ghana

Preliminary Findings October 2011

L.Dawes, N.D‟Elia

Ghana Research Structure

Expert Interviews

In-depth Interviews

Focus Groups

Quantitative Surveys

Review Research Tools

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4

17

3

8

300

Mobile

Survey

1,000

Qualitative Quantitative

Urban Rural

Urban Rural

Urban Urban Rural

COMPLETED

In 2011, Ghana‟s GDP growth was the 13.6% - the fastest

growing economy in Africa and second fastest globally,

however…….

Unemployment and underemployment remain major problems, reflecting the failure of past economic growth to generate substantial formal employment in the private sector, and the lack of job-relevant skills of the majority of the workforce. Ghana‟s labour market is still characterised by the dominance of employment in agriculture and a large informal economy. Government figures indicate that currently two out of three working adults are employed. The national unemployment rate is estimated at only 3% by government sources. The low rate of unemployment in the country disguises the high levels of unemployment and underemployment inherent in the large informal sector estimated at 90% of the population.

The government‟s definition of unemployment excludes the large numbers of jobless people who may be available for work but do not necessarily seek work, for various reasons. Given the large informal sector where the genuine unemployed are engaging in any economic activity simply to survive, concerted effort is needed to reduce the numbers in employment that may be considered as vulnerable, as well as the “working poor”.

Daily Monitor

High inflation is causing strikes in

universities and schools The current government‟s Education Strategy

Plan (2003-15) provides free and compulsory

basic education aimed at achieving universal

primary education by 2015 which has led to

improvements in various key education

indicators. For example, government figures

show primary school gross enrolment stands at

94.9%.

Beyond this, the education system appears to

be failing to provide the relevant knowledge

base for learners at all levels to compete in

today's global economy. There is a lack of

technically prepared and vocationally trained

youths with many studying for more corporate

jobs and demand for these roles is outstripping

supply.

“Essentially, the system has failed to provide an

adequate knowledge base, relevant skills and a

positive attitude towards work.” Prof. T. P.

Manus Ulzen

The „missing link‟ between Education and Employment

10.2M 2.8M 4.3M 3.6M - n. connections

2012(?)

Ghana has been a pioneer in African telecommunications: It launched the first cellular mobile network in sub-Saharan Africa in 1992, it was among the first countries on the continent to be connected to the Internet and to introduce ADSL broadband services, and it led the way in market liberalisation and deregulation when it privatised Ghana Telecom (GT) as early as 1996. Since then, Ghana has become one of the continent‟s most vibrant mobile markets with now six competing operators, including regional heavyweights such as MTN, Vodafone, Millicom (Tigo) and Zain which was taken over by Bharti of India in 2010. While the voice market is approaching saturation at more than 75% penetration in mid-2011, enormous potential in both subscriber and ARPU terms exists for the provision of 3G mobile broadband services which have surpassed existing ADSL services within a few months of their launch.

Expresso

CDMA

0.2M

The price war going on in Ghana may not be a direct war in terms of drastic reductions in local call rates but in the

form of tariff plans, which promise value for money. “A closer look at, and comparative analysis of some of the plans

would show they do not deliver any real value to the customer as promised in the loud ads and commercials, which

are designed to cause people to rush into patronizing those offers long before realising they are victims of marketing

gimmicks.” Samuel Nii Narku Dowuona, Adom Radio News Editor, Ghana

There is a perceived price war, but

does it really exist….

However, could this all change with

Glo entering the market?

Nigerian based Glo plan to enter the market on November 17 2011 after a long awaited launch promising “a

comprehensive suite of high quality and reliable voice and data services and very competitive rates that would

change the telecommunications landscape in the country”. Close monitoring of the mobile market in Ghana is vital as

new pricing structures, offers and technology will likely change the current landscape dramatically.

Cheap deals on voice - MNOs are trying to gain market share by offering better deals

Affordable data bundle - under 1GB cost per MB is between 0.02 and 0.03 GHS

3 Mobile Money Services - MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money and Tigo Cash

Number Portability - Launched by operators to capture customers „loyal‟ to their number

Innovative VAS products and offerings - Loyalty Scheme, Ads, Insurance, Number selection, Prizes, etc.

Voice

SMS

Data

VAS and Other

Per minute

MTN Zone

MTN Family & Friends

IDD bundle

Bonus credit

Loyalty reward

Credit transfer

Mobile broadband

Voice SMS

Value packages

MobileMoney

My Special Number

DSTV Mobile

Payback

Airtel Money

Caller Tunes

Loyalty Program

M2U

Cash Mania

Mobile broadband

Magic SMS

Per minute

Bonus credit

Stop the clock

Call Me Back

Intl Reload

Tigo Cash

Tigo SOS

Colour Ring

Tigo Ads

Family Care Insurance

Smartbrowse

Text a Lot

FB SMS

Google SMS

Notify me

SMS Gift & Collect

iFest

SMS bundle

Per minute

Friends and Family

Free nights calls

Free2Bu

IDD

Per minute

Value packages

IDD/Hajj bundle

Family & Friends

Free weekends

Bonus credit

Conference call

Trying to overturn the status quo

14.4Gs/min with double bonus

8Gs/min

7Gs/min 3Gs/min

6Gs-9Gs/min

Mobile Money has not been

successful yet

Innovation is the other secret

weapon

Data has been growing

consistently in the recent years

especially in urban areas

Devices

38 GHS 80 GHS 280 GHS

~50%

Grey market handsets are

very polular also in Ghana

Single SIM

Flashlight

Radio FM

Single SIM

Data

Bluetooth

Camera/Video

Data card

Ovi

Single SIM

Android

521 MB

GPS

Data card

etc.

All Mobile Operators provided branded basic

handsets

RLG, with offices in Ghana, Nigeria, The

Gambia, and China, is is a Ghanaian-

owned limited liability company engaged in

the production of communications

equipment such as mobile handsets,

electronic notebooks, tablets, laptops, LCD

TV monitors and more.

320 GHS Samsung Galaxy Mini

200 US$

Huawei IDEOS

175 US$ Nokia C1

50 US$ Nokia 1280

24 US$

Mobile Laptop LCD Tablet

rlg Communications is a Ghanaian-owned company engaged in the production of communications equipment such as mobile handsets, electronic notebooks, tablets, laptops, LCD TV monitors and more. rlg is also engaged in capacity building and training programmes in collaboration with Ghana‟s Ministry of Youth and Sports as part of the National Youth Employment Programmes (NYEP).

r series g series l series

ALREADY IN COMMERCE TO BE LAUNCHED IN 2012

Competitive prices „Proudly yours‟ Training local youth

Approach to MNOs

The is a great pride in Ghana and many local businesses feel that it

is „their time’. “We are not East Africa. It’s time that we started looking

more closely at the West African market and what services will work

here.” Nana Osei Afrifa, Innovation Manager, MTN Ghana

MNOs are looking for the competitive edge and services such as

learning, agri, and health are being investigated with keen interest.

MNOs are trying to understand why Mobile Money services are not

working in Ghana and how to increase the uptake of other financial

services. Financial Literacy is seen as one of these barriers.

“In Africa, fewer than 5% of the poor have any type of insurance policy at all. And yet, low-income people need insurance the most.

While the poor are acutely aware of the risks they face to life, property, and health, they are usually unaware of how formal financial

services can benefit them. Financial literacy is essential to overcoming this service gap so the demand among the poor for effective

risk mitigation can be satisfied by high-quality, formal insurance products. Financial literacy also provides power to the poor, ensuring

that financial service providers offer products and services at high quality.” Peter Gross, MicroEnsure

m4d Initiatives

Camfed is building an “end-to-end

digitalised data collection and

analysis system”, designed to give

communities the tools and the skills

to track resources, monitor education

quality and demand accountability

from government and schools

through the use of live data. It allows

tracking of expenditure on individual

girls‟ entitlements and ensure that all

items reach their designated target

whilst following up on any

irregularities.

Learning Solutions

Content and

interactive Marketing

Services

MOTECH EpiSurveyor

Provide microensurance that is

purchased and managed via any

mobile handset. Currently working

with both MTN and Tigo in Ghana

and also launched in Tanzania. M-

Insurance has reached over 250,000

users in Ghana alone. Currently

investigating the ways in which

financial literacy can be delivered in

order to promote uptake of the

service.

Pre-loading handsets with content

onto some of the grey market

handsets for select manufacturers

Developed Interactive Text games

similar to TV series “The Amazing

Race” whereby contestants have to

answer a question to move on to the

next stage – incorrect entries are

penalised with a time delay. The

nature of the questions can be

themed (e.g. geography, history).

Work with MNOs operating in sub-

Saharan Africa providing content

provisioning & content promotion.

Ad-Connect have developed a

platform that delivers classroom

content to more than 10,000,

students via feature phones. The

system has the ability to track

quizzes and tests through results,

and track the number of times a

specific piece of content has been

downloaded, or which users are

downloading content.

Mobile Technology for Community

Health (MOTECH) initiative in

November 2008 to determine how

mobile phones could be used to

improve care for pregnant mothers

and newborns in rural Ghana.

Funded by a grant from the Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation, this is a

collaborative initiative between

Grameen Foundation, Columbia

University‟s Mailman School of

Public Health, the Ghana Health

Service, and the Dodowa Health

Research Center.

M-Insurance

Expert Interviews

MNOs

IT

NGOs/IA

Academia

Market

Research

UX

M4D

90% of those working are employed in the informal

sector

Financial Literacy is seen as a barrier to uptake of

mobile money and other financial services

West Africa is a very different market to the rest of Africa

and the time has come to focus efforts on local

initiatives

Expert Interview Insights


Ghanaians are used to things not working, they are hesitant towards

change

The Last Mile – There is a divide between the

north and south, services need to be designed to

reach as many underserved as possible


Be realistic: Rural migrants often believe that

more jobs and social opportunities are

available in urban areas, but once in the cities

they find themselves without a job and with

limited social networks.

This can lead to an influx of youths seeking work in the

sex trade and other illegal industries. For example, when

asked what he does when going online,18 y.o Ernest

claimed he „commits fraud‟ and „tricks foreigners‟. This is

something becoming more common as often it provides a

seemingly „easy‟ or lucrative way out of an impoverished

life.

8 Focus Groups: Urban/Rural, Low-Med/Med-High Education, Beginner/Techie

Playing an active role helps to draw out better results

15 – 24 is a highly influential age group and observation is required to help determine the most accurate results

Counter productive participants can be removed!

Focus Group Setup Learnings

Focus Group Insights

People rarely change network providers keeping the same

number from the time they sign up to a network. Number

portability is recently available in the last few months but has

yet to effect any change to this

The use of mobile data is widespread and can

provide a richer channel to deliver services,

especially in urban areas

An even split between those who prefer to learn

in a group and those who prefer to learn alone


Most youths want to be successful and have a clear picture

of the career they want however…..

There is a lack of understanding the steps required to get to

gain employment. Youths want to be successful and

entrepreneurial but do not know how to achieve these goals.

Word of mouth is the best way to gain employment for most,

however the more corporate jobs exist on Ghanaweb.com


Sakawa, a West African subcultures combining internet fraud and juju or

Black Magic, is becoming a bit part of Ghanaian youth culture.

In Accra there are 850k users - 61.24% of the population. Many youths are

spending up to two hours at a time chatting to friends each day on Facebook

– it can‟t be ignored that FB provides an excellent platform to reach youths

Several common professions were identified throughout

the focus groups – Nursing, Accounting, Businessman /

Entrepreneur

Isaac

Isaac is 15. He lives in Achimota, Greater

Accra with his mother. His father left

when he was just a young boy and his

mother, Victoria, has since raised him on

her own. Victoria has her own beauty

salon where she can have from just a few

clients each day, sometimes earning just

3GHS (USD1.80) for a day’s work. Isaac

does not have a phone as his mother

cannot afford one for him, however he is

able to use hers on occasion. He has a

Facebook account and when he goes

online to chat with friends, he spends up

to 30 minutes at a time chatting about

maths and other things he has learnt at

school. Isaac loves football and follows

Manchester United. He is a keen studier

with a natural curiosity and thirst for

knowledge. When he grows up, Isaac

wants to be a meteorologist.

Mobile Survey

Nokia and Sony-Ericsson represents nearly

50% of the market

Majority of mobile data users are male (82.5%)

72% of the respondents have secondary education and

higher

2/3 of the data users are students, 13.5% is unemployed

n.SIM

5 most important activities on

mobile:

1. Browsing (68%)

2. Voice (64%)

3. SMS (48%)

4. Music (44%)

5. Games (31%)

n=1,000 Mobile Data Users

5 top content you would be interested in:

1. Music (63%)

2. Education (56%)

3. Games (51%)

4. Pictures/Videos (44%)

5. Sport/Entertainment (40%)

Only 3% of the respondents use Mobile Money services

86% would definitely/surely be interested in learning

through mobile phones

Preferred way for learning via mobile:

1. Mobile Internet (75%)

2. SMS (46%)

3. Voice (28%)

4. Apps (27%)

5. Social Networking (22%)

What kind of educational services would be of

greatest interest to you?

What kind of employment services would be

of greatest interest to you?