Growth Background of African Gen Z

Division of each generation in the African region:

Baby Boomers: 1946-1964, 58-76 years old,

Generation X: 1965-1980, 42-57 years old,

Millennials: 1981-1996, 26-41 years old,

Gen Z: 1997-2012, 10-25 years old,

Generation Alpha: 2011-2022, 0-9 years old

Population

Africa's population is estimated at 1.37 billion.

Gen Z has 428 million, accounting for 31.20%

Millennials were 291 million, accounting for 20.49%

The two generations together accounted for 51.69%

Difference

Gen Z in Africa is very different from Gen Z in developed countries around the world.

90% of Generation Z in developed countries are born with the Internet, but there are still hundreds of millions of young people in Africa who do not have reliable power supply, adequate sanitation facilities, good educational resources and other Internet facilities.

Internet penetration across Africa is well below the international average. Network traffic costs are still relatively high.

According to a report by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in 104 countries and regions around the world, more than 80% of the youth population has access to the Internet. In developed countries, 94% of 15-24 year olds use the Internet, compared with 67% in developing countries and 30% in least developed countries. Almost 9 out of 10 young people in the world who are not yet online live in less developed regions in Africa and Asia-Pacific.

The average Internet penetration rate in Africa is 21%, while the average Internet penetration rate among 15-24 year olds is 40%. So digital natives, a title that doesn't apply to Generation Z in Africa.

Values ​​of Gen Z in Africa

The values ​​of African Gen Z can be summed up in five key words:

Yolo

What is Yolo?

You only live once--Carpe Diem
Africa's Gen Z has interesting souls who love to share, express, have fun, are full of energy and push the limits.

Subversion

subvert, change oneself

African Gen Zs want to be disruptors, new people, and they want to challenge the status quo by pushing the boundaries of entrepreneurship and technology. They are innovative and are constantly looking for technologies and methods that can transform their lives and environments.

Explore

African Gen Z likes to make the most of various technologies to empower their lives. They believe it is difficult to succeed without knowledge and value education, whether formal or informal. They understand that in order to survive in this Internet world, classroom knowledge is not enough, and the focus is on exploring skills that cannot be learned in school.

Identify

Be Yourself

African Gen Zers take great pride in their African heritage. A sense of African identity is the source of African Gen Z's strength.

With their strong sense of identity and African culture, they are happy to express their origins in an authentic way. At the same time, they reinvent the African style. They take inspiration from all over the world in the online world and interpret it by creating something truly new, unique and still unmistakably African.

Just Do It !

Gen Z in Africa are entrepreneurs, they are not afraid of any challenge, they are ready to start a project they are interested in, as soon as they think it is a pressing problem, they will act immediately.

Internet Habits of African Gen Z

Generation Z in Africa, they are tech-savvy because the internet has become an integral part of their lives in the process of personal socialization and learning. These people have their own FB accounts almost from birth. They think, learn and understand the world differently than other generations.

Generation Z in Africa can quickly acquire and consume digital information and resources through computers, mobile phones, Pads and other devices. Their first mobile phone was a smartphone, but most of them use these devices for games and online classes.

Because of the development of the mobile Internet, Generation Z can easily obtain information, which means that they believe that they can do everything they want. Technology has improved the way they learn, which means they can access information about their interests from all over the world.

Africa's Gen Z is inseparable from social media almost from waking up. The top three countries in Africa with the highest social media usage are: Egypt at 42%, South Africa at 37% and Kenya at 17%.

SIMElab Africa 2020 Kenya Social Media Landscape Survey: Gen Z prefer Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok over other generations.

According to a Pew Research Center study published in April 2021, Gen Z is looking for opportunities to be creative and express themselves, and the popularity of great short videos and pictures on Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube among Gen Z The popularity continues to climb.

1. Wahtsapp is the king app in sub-Saharan Africa

Google's download rankings, Whatsapp has long held the top spot, and no one can shake it, is the most important social media/communication tool for Africans.

2. African smartphone users are very focused on saving data

According to the survey of five African countries, as long as the APP that allows users to transfer files without data flow appears in the top 10 download rankings. The core selling point of the Opera Mini browser is to save traffic, and it also appears in the Top 20 download rankings. In addition, the Lite versions of various APPs, such as Facebook Lite, are the top 3 downloads except South Africa.

The average cost of 1GB of data is about 2.5 US dollars, which can be saved for Gen Z.

3. African Gen Z likes apps that are popular internationally

Zoom ranks in the top three downloads in the United States, the United Kingdom ranks first, and in Africa, except for Tanzania, Zoom is in the top 5 download rankings in the other four African countries. Snapchat, which is also popular among users in Africa, is among the top 15 downloads. Tiktok has not been promoted much in Africa, and it ranks among the Top 20 in the download rankings. Tiktok's performance in southern Africa is particularly outstanding. And the most important users of these apps are the generation Z under the age of 25.

Payment Habits of African Gen Z

Global payments platform Thunes conducts research on Gen Z to gain insight into their shopping, social and payment habits. Thunes interviewed 6,500 people aged 16 to 24 from 13 developed and emerging countries, including Nigeria and Kenya, and reported that:

Mobile wallets and money management: Gen Zers are largely uninterested in traditional financial products (whether bank accounts or credit cards), with 62% of Gen Zers not having any bank accounts at all. 50% of Gen Z say they already use a mobile payment app.

1. Payment method: Since many Gen Zs do not have bank accounts, they rarely use cash and mainly use mobile payments.

2. Shopping habits: Generation Z consumers like to shop online. In addition to this, the biggest areas of spending by Gen Z are: entertainment, attending events and going out to dinner with friends.

3. Considerations: Whether the payment brand is trustworthy is the most important factor for Gen Z to consider using this payment method when shopping.

Consumption View of African Gen Z

1. Pursue Personalization

African Gen Z consumers are looking for personalized products. They feel that using personalized products can reflect their "uniqueness", make them stand out and find like-minded friends.

2. Focus on Real Experience

For African Gen Z consumers, personalisation is more than personalisation of products. A personalized shopping experience is also critical to them. African Gen Z consumers can buy through numerous channels and expect the experience offered by each channel to be personalized and authentic.

African Gen Z consumers believe that content or good things shared by other consumers or their favorite influencers on social media and the Internet are more authentic than the content provided by merchants, because they have already experienced the products or services shared, Have experience with this. As a result, African Gen Z consumers see them as credible and are willing to trust their reviews and shares.

3. Pursue Convenience & Speed

With the development of technology, consumers can purchase goods through various online and offline channels. For African Gen Z consumers, they mainly shop via e-commerce platforms and social media on other mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Because online shopping is not only rich in choice but also home delivery, African Gen Z consumers love a convenient shopping experience and want to make purchases anytime, anywhere. At the same time, they also expect merchants to answer their questions about products in a timely manner, so some shopping sites use chatbots to enhance customers’ shopping experience.

Summarize

Generation Z in Africa are the first African consumers to grow up in the digital age, and as smartphones continue to spread in Africa, this group will grow in size.

They are proficient in mobile Internet technology, have fun in time, love to share, are willing to express, full of energy, and like challenges; they embrace change, love exploration, need recognition, and do what they want. Such generation Z, just need to give them a platform, they will play and create to their heart's content. They are already eager to make money before they enter the society.

The future of Africa belongs to the younger generation. Let’s continue to pay attention to this dynamic future consumer, accompany their growth and understand their demands. Looking forward to African Generation Z leading the new trend that belongs to them!