TikTok keeps rising with tremendous pace to topple other video apps in a short time. The short-video app, which gives users, especially youngsters, the opportunity to earn from their creative contents, recently became the most downloaded app in the world.

BBC reported that App users in the UK and US are spending more time on TikTok than on YouTube, citing data from app monitoring firm.

According to the report, the data from app monitoring firm App Annie, which specializes in analysis of the apps market, indicates that the average time per user spent on the apps is higher for TikTok, indicating high levels of engagement.

This new record for the video app also indicates that it will soon become the app to beat. App Annie described TikTok as having “upended the streaming and social landscape”.

However, the report says that YouTube retains the top spot for overall time spent – not per user – as it has many more users overall. With estimated two billion monthly users, the video giant is still the most used video app.

The “time spent” metric in its report only accounts for Android phones – but also does not include China, where TikTok – known locally as Douyin – is a major app.

“YouTube still leads TikTok in overall time spent, including in the UK,” explained Jamie MacEwan, from Enders Analysis.

“YouTube’s mass audience means it’s getting more demographics that are comparatively light internet users… it’s just reaching everyone who’s online.”

The most-invested YouTube users probably “match or surpass” the engagement of TikTokers, he said. But “none of that’s to say TikTok isn’t a success.”

“TikTok was spending big to attract users, but they were not necessarily hanging around for long compared to other social media,” he said.

“Now we know that in the US and UK, TikTok has overhauled YouTube, and is reeling in Facebook… that’s a huge seal of approval.”

The “time spent” metric in App Annie’s report only accounts for Android phones – but also does not include China, where TikTok – known locally as Douyin – is a major app.

The report also spotlighted Snapchat for recording usage growth. The augmented-reality focused messaging app saw its downloads outside the US grow by nearly 30% year-on-year, and by 45% two years ago, App Annie’s data suggests.

In the UK, TikTok surpassed YouTube back in June 2020, and has maintained its lead since. In the US, TikTok and YouTube traded places multiple times late last year before TikTok emerged on top in April 2021, the report says.

Other metrics tracked by the firm reflect TikTok’s increasing importance.

Among social, communication, photo, video and entertainment apps, TikTok is ranked as the most-downloaded worldwide since 2020. It also competes with YouTube for the top spot in consumer spending since last year. TikTok was founded in 2016, and most recent public figures suggested it had about 700 million in mid-2020. It is a top speed growth compared to the slow pace experience of other video apps.

Gain from the growth.

App Annie’s report also suggests that apps with live-streaming – including TikTok – are fuelling a surge in money spent on creators.

Apps that have live-streaming as “a prominent feature” accounted for three-quarters of money spent in the top 25 social apps in the first half of 2021, the report says.

On gaming site Twitch, for example, viewers can purchase “Bits” – a virtual currency – and spend them to “cheer” streamers during a live stream. Or they can set up a recurring subscription to a creator’s channel in exchange for subscriber-only benefits.

TikTok lets users tip creators with “coins” – its own version of “bits”, while YouTube runs similar programmes for its live streams.

“Live-streaming is driving growth in engagement for social apps, which sets them up for consumer spend,” App Annie says.

Nigerian insurers are deploying US-based Lemonade playbook on sharing surpluses on money earmarked for claims. In other words, if claims have been processed from the funds earmarked for claims, the remaining is returned to policyholders or their selected charities.

Lemonade is a completely digitalized insurance company; it doesn’t have any physical agencies or written policies. Instead, customers buy their policies and submit their claims on the web or through the mobile app.

When users sign up for insurance and pay their premiums, Lemonade takes 25% as a flat fee out of these premiums in order to cover its operating expenses, while the remaining 75% is used to pay claims submitted by users. Just to give you a perspective, for-profit insurance companies charge 35% as premium fees.

At year-end, the balance of these premiums is donated to a charity of the user’s choice. This is what is called the “Giveback” concept.

That playbook of returning the surplus has been picked up by Nigeria’s Noor Takaful Insurance Limited: “The surplus distribution extended to policyholders in the insurance sector is a significant milestone that has contributed immensely to unlocking the value in ethical compliance both for individuals and corporate organisations in Nigeria. This was disclosed by the Chairman, Board of Directors, Noor Takaful Insurance Limited, Muhtar Bakare, in Lagos. According to him, for the third year in a row, his company has announced the distribution of surplus (cashback) payments worth over N36 million to policyholders, who did not make claims, in line with its commitment to promoting ethical insurance in Nigeria.”

This is amazing because what Noor Takaful is doing is to solve the common conflict of interests between insurance companies and insured people which come into play since any claim rejected becomes profit for insurance companies. By running this playbook, policyholders will not see rejection as a way to jack up profits. Possibly, this will improve the perception in the industry and boost overall insurance product penetration which remains at single digit in Nigeria.

Update: please read the comment below for a balanced perspective on this playbook.

I invite you to join Tekedia Capital Syndicate; with just a minimum of $10k, you will pick stakes in category-king tech-anchored startups operating in Africa. Our next investment cycle begins in days. Click and learn what we do. If you want, our team will schedule a Zoom session.

We’ll explain our physics of early stage investment in Africa which is different from what happens in any place in the world. We already have a $100 million startup and I am expecting by 2024 to report a unicorn ($1 billion startup).

This is the cambrian moment of Africa’s entrepreneurial capitalism; you’re invited.

I was a student and had some free funds. I read about the promises of Transcorp Plc initial public offer (IPO), from the president of the nation, and the director general of the securities and exchange commission; I joined the IPO party . Because I felt that those  duo would never allow the company to crash, I went in and bought the shares of Transcorp. They had sold Transcorp as Nigeria’s equivalent of China’s state enterprises all combined in one.

That investment has underperformed across all domains. Honestly, I do not want to remember that mistake. 

Now, the news is that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will sell shares to the public in 2024. That was according to the GMD of NNPC, Mele Kyari, in a conservation on Bloomberg: “The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will sell its shares for the first time to the public in three years, a path to raising the fund needed to sustain it as a going concern after managing to break a loss-making spell that has run it aground for roughly four decades and a half. Mele Kyari, the corporation’s head, told Bloomberg in a video chat on Tuesday the Initial Public Offering (IPO) will help Nigeria keep pace with the global energy transition in a bid to unlock its benefits.”

“IPO already means this company is going to be profitable,” Mr Kyari said.

“It has a long projectory, it has short term view of how things can be done better to align with best practices in the industry, trying to see how we can latch on the existing framework for energy transition that is ongoing all the world.”

Looking at what happened in Transcorp, will you buy NNPC shares? 

Meanwhile, this announcement validates my call in 2017 when I wrote thus: “NNPC Plc – Nigeria Should Take NNPC Public To Boost Transparency”. I listed some benefits for NNPC Plc.

NNPC Plc – Nigeria Should Take NNPC Public To Boost Transparency

Umu Abia, I accepted the invitation of our Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, to deliver the keynote of a special development programme which the state is organizing. I send a message to all Abians, that despite everything, we must continue to have tough love for God’s Own State. Aba has to rise. Umuahia has to evolve. Ohafia, Arochukwu, Bende, Isuikwuato, Ukwa, Ngwa, etc must rise. How do we do that? We need to join the action.

Umu Abia, udo diri unu. Obi dim mma ikele unu. Onye isi obodo ala ayi, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, si mu bia kwuo okwo maka imepe ala Abia. Chineke gozie uno. Ka aku ruo ulo, ndi oma. Bia ka anyi mezie obodo Abia.

The Government has to do better, strategically, and we the people have to show up and do our part. The Aba free trade zone is a promise. But across all domains, Abia is missing a new dawn of entrepreneurial capitalism.

The businesses which Nnanna Kalu and co pioneered in Aba cannot take Abia to the next level. But how can Aba attract the new species of companies? How can Abia become indeed a God’s Own State of opportunities? It turns out when we engage!

What can you do for Abia state?