Mansoor Iqbal is a writer with a background in consumer and education journalism. He is fascinated by the way brands convey their personalities and the relationships we have with them. When not writing, he can be found doodling, baking or playing the bass guitar (badly).

 is the associate vice president of IDC South Africa. He is responsible for leading IDC’s consulting, research and analysis of technology markets in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. He has also worked for Microsoft Gulf, developing and implementing competitive strategies.

 is an associate director at Counterpoint Technology Market Research. He is a specialist in the evolution of mobile device ecosystems, with a particular focus on emerging markets.

Africa

Communications

Majorities in sub-Saharan Africa own mobile phones, but smartphone adoption is modest', Pew Research Center (October 2018)11. '30 million Nigerians have never seen a mobile phone – ATCON President, Teniola', Punch (May 2019)12. 'African Economic Outlook 2019', African Development Bank Group (January 2019)13. 'Africa’s youth: a “ticking time bomb” or an opportunity?', African Renewal (May 2013)14. ‘Fact 7: About three quarters of the African population live of less than $2, half of the population of less than $1.25 per day. People in rural areas are more often struck by poverty’, Global Growing (June 2012)15. ‘Average Salary in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa’, Salary Explorer (2019)16. Interview with Mark Walker conducted by the author17. 'Boomplay: Local Sounds Beat Global Rivals', Canvas8 (May 2019)18. Interview with Tarun Pathak conducted by the author19. ‘The Chinese phone giant that beat Apple to Africa’, CNN (October 2018)20.'Figures of the week: Africa’s growing youth population and human capital investments', Brookings (September 2018)21. 'Itel Mobile is ‘16th most-admired brand in Africa’', The Nation

'A low-profile, Chinese handset maker has taken over Africa’s mobile market', Quartz Africa

'Smartphones lost market share to feature phones in Africa last year', Quartz Africa

'iTel Leads the Africa Mobile Phone market, as Feature Phones Make a Comeback', Counterpoint

'itel Mobile launches itel P33, P33 Plus Smartphone', Vanguard

'#ItelP33: Watch the official launch of the Itel P33 and P33 Plus', YouTube

‘The mobile phone is still changing the game in Africa’, Quartz Africa

'Products', itel

'Transsion’s lead in African phone market under threat from fellow Chinese rivals', TechNode

'1. Majorities in sub-Saharan Africa own mobile phones, but smartphone adoption is modest', Pew Research Center

'30 million Nigerians have never seen a mobile phone – ATCON President, Teniola', Punch

'African Economic Outlook 2019', African Development Bank Group

'Africa’s youth: a “ticking time bomb” or an opportunity?', African Renewal

‘Fact 7: About three quarters of the African population live of less than $2, half of the population of less than $1.25 per day. People in rural areas are more often struck by poverty’, Global Growing

‘Average Salary inNigeria, Kenya, South Africa’, Salary Explorer

Interview with Mark Walker conducted by the author

'Boomplay: Local Sounds Beat Global Rivals', Canvas8

Interview with Tarun Pathak conducted by the author

‘The Chinese phone giant that beat Apple to Africa’, CNN

'Figures of the week: Africa’s growing youth population and human capital investments', Brookings

'Itel Mobile is ‘16th most-admired brand in Africa’', The Nation

itel Mobile, the biggest feature phone brand across Africa, was created specifically by China’s Transsion Holdings to target African and other developing markets. Now enjoying a leading market share, how has itel combined tech and the power of local to impactful effect?

KaiOS: a simpler OS for the newly-connected

Branch removes traditional barriers to credit in Africa

Google Go speeds up search for people in Africa

Nokia 8110: a nostalgic device for digital detoxing