African content creators find value in Chinese phones

The increasing availability of affordable and high-performance China-made smartphones has driven the growth of social media content creation in Africa, with an increasing number of young talent reaping benefits from the growth.

"It's no doubt that Chinese smartphone brands have offered people like us a lifeline in content creation. With less than $200, you can acquire a good smartphone with better cameras that we can use to make videos for our online followers," said Ali Muslim, a content creator.

Muslim is also known as Presenter Ali and is a journalist by training who worked at some of the leading media outlets in Kenya, before quitting and starting his own YouTube channel. The Presenter Ali channel has now over a quarter-million subscribers.

With the availability of Chinese smartphones, the cost is no longer an issue. "All one needs is a good smartphone and you are ready to go," he said, holding a Realme smartphone from China.

Smartphone consumers are very choosy and always look out for handsets that offer high-end features such as good cameras at very affordable rates, Muslim said.

China is the world's biggest producer of smartphones, which have gained increasing popularity in Africa in recent years. In Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, Chinese smartphones accounted for about 80 percent of the country's smartphone market last year. And in Kenya, most top-selling smartphone brands are also Chinese, including Oppo, Huawei, Xiaomi and Tecno.

With the increasing availability of well-performing smartphones, the digital economy has developed rapidly in many African countries. In Kenya, one of the fastest-growing markets for smartphones, the number of content creators is rising rapidly.

Mildred Agoya, marketing manager at Realme in Kenya, said Chinese smartphone manufacturers had conducted research to understand the needs of consumers. This gave them the upper hand against competitors.

According to data from the International Data Corporation, most low-end priced Chinese brands trade at less than $200 and continue to dominate Africa's smartphone market. It said smartphones priced between $100 and $200 have seen the biggest increase in sales.

Chinese smartphone manufacturers are also creating employment opportunities for the locals.

James Irungu is among the millions of Kenyans who have gained employment opportunities with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo. Irungu, the firm's head of brand and corporate communications in Nairobi, said: "I started with the Oppo brand, and it was an eyeopener for me, especially coming from the newsroom background where I was a news reporter."

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.