These three plots show the education geography of Nigeria at basic level. One thing that we will note here is how Anambra state has bulldozed itself from a state where boys go into trading into the best in the nation, on basic education attainment. The generation of traders in Onitsha want all their children educated even as they desire they return to business upon graduation. More so, increasingly, the Igbo Apprenticeship System has been upgraded so that the stimulation happens for college graduates.

So, when you see Obi Cubana (a University of Nigeria Nsukka graduate) empowering 300 with N1 million, most of the recipients are college graduates. This is a data point: communities of apprentices have higher propensity to have their children educated. That is what Anambra state is telling Nigeria right now.

This is a real evolution – that boy-trader in Onitsha you see at 5pm on weekdays or Saturdays is also in school.

More plots at Premium Times website.

The greatest companies of the 21st century will play at the perceptions of customers, not just their needs and expectations. I have made that point in the Harvard Business Review where I explained the reason why Apple continues to win any market it enters. That construct of perception is driven on the nexus that customers expect brands and companies to help them overcome frictions, even when they have no clue what that solution would be!

In video, YouTube is a static system where you can watch videos with marginal support from a static recommendation engine built on categories. But TikTok is a dynamic engine where AI systems parse millions of videos in minutes, and immediately build a watch-profile for you, giving you videos you would like to watch even before you ask for them.  In our modern world, that business model will win markets.

So, it is not surprising that TikTok has eclipsed YouTube: “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.” Simply, TikTok is now more downloaded  than YouTube. Of course, by making creators small business owners in its ecosystems, TikTok is attracting the best in the industry to make it home.

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.

[…]

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.

TikTok Surpasses YouTube for Average Watch Time in US and UK

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.

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