Afrigather 
In a rustic with over 90 million people facing poverty, having the ability to afford high-end cellular devices is a privilege. iPhones are standard in Nigeria for being a marker of wealth and sophistication, two issues that set you other than the common Nigerian. Though there are about 170 million mobile subscriptions within the nation, solely about 10–20% of the inhabitants at present makes use of a smartphone. Of this quantity, Android customers make up the bulk with 85% whereas solely about 10.36% use iPhones, in response to this report by Statista. The majority of iPhones from markets are pre-owned, as that is nonetheless what most individuals can afford. The brand-new iPhone 12 prices over ₦400,000 for the 64GB mannequin, which is greater than the common Nigerian’s annual wage and 13 occasions the minimal wage.
Aisha Hussaini is the founding father of Keza Africa, a telephone financing platform that lets Nigerians purchase smartphones and pay conveniently. They only accomplished their beta section, and in response to Aisha, 90% of the telephones demanded by their customers throughout this section have been iPhones. “Nigerians consider they should use an iPhone, whatever the mannequin and situation. It won’t be probably the most offered telephone available in the market due to individuals’s buying energy, however it will be if extra individuals may afford it.”
Rukky, who runs a make-up studio, makes use of an iPhone as a result of the standard of photographs is healthier. She creates content material for her social media pages and iPhones have clear cameras that make her content material extra interesting. “I can’t take good photos of my shoppers with a Tecno or Infinix telephone, as a result of the photographs will simply not be as clear. iPhones are an excellent funding for my enterprise and content material creation journey.”
When requested why she didn’t discover different high-end telephones with crisp cameras, her response was that they have been costly. “My iPhone 11 is used and price me ₦250,000. All these different telephones that may compete with the iPhone when it comes to digital camera high quality usually are not as standard available in the market, so that you’ll hardly get a used model.”
James is a telephone seller in Lagos who sells iPhones within the well-known Laptop Village, a market in Lagos the place individuals purchase telephones, laptops, equipment, and different forms of computer systems. He imports iPhones from varied nations—the UK, China, Dubai, and the US. These iPhones are all generally referred to as “London-used”, no matter the place they’ve been imported from. His brokers or associates who reside in these nations go to Apple shops and buy pre-owned iPhones which customers commerce in for newer fashions. A typical order or “batch” takes about three weeks to reach in Nigeria.
“Most people who’ve iPhones don’t purchase brand-new ones. For each 20 iPhones I promote, just one will likely be brand-new. It’s good to think about the price of iPhones to know this. A brand-new iPhone 11 is over ₦350,000. Why will they purchase that once they can get the London-used model for ₦250,000 that does the identical factor? Most individuals right here don’t purchase the telephone for something apart from the digital camera, and the digital camera on a used and brand-new telephone is identical. The one distinction may be with regards to battery life, and quite a lot of them don’t thoughts.”
James began his enterprise seven years in the past. Whereas he began importing various kinds of telephones at first, he has now streamlined his items to solely iPhones. The rationale for this: demand. Extra individuals demand pre-owned iPhones than some other model of telephones. The individuals who care about what different manufacturers like Samsung, Google Pixel, and different high-end Androids have to supply usually can afford to purchase them brand-new.
Past promoting, telephone sellers like James additionally purchase used telephones from individuals who typically wish to improve or want emergency money. “No matter how outdated the iPhone is, we purchase it as a result of there’s all the time going to be another person who needs it. We don’t do that with different telephones as a result of individuals don’t demand them as a lot. That is why individuals go for iPhones even when they can’t afford them, as a result of it serves as some type of funding,” James says.
“I’ve a buyer who purchased a London-used iPhone X from me in Might 2021 for ₦150,000. She got here to promote it a few weeks in the past, and I purchased it again from her for ₦100,000. That’s a lack of simply ₦50,000 for her after 18 months of use. The rationale I used to be assured about shopping for again the telephone from her is that there’s another person on the market who will purchase the telephone from me very quickly—no different model can assure that on this market.”
Pre-owned telephones get quite a lot of unhealthy PR for being faulty, however Hussaini believes this stereotype is improper. “Pre-owned telephones are good and might work simply in addition to brand-new telephones should you examine them very rigorously earlier than making a purchase order. For us, we test for display replacements and physique scratches, if the telephones have been stolen, have skilled water harm, and so on,” she shared.
“Even quite a lot of the supposed brand-new telephones available in the market usually are not completely brand-new. Out of each 50 new iPhones, solely about two will really be brand-new telephones which have by no means been activated. So individuals purchase these telephones considering that they’re shopping for new telephones with warranties, however there are none as a result of they’re already expired. When you have any producer’s default, there’s actually nothing the seller or Apple can do for you, which is why IMEI checks are essential for each brand-new iPhone you purchase.”
Hussaini believes that the pre-owned telephone market is essential within the nation. Although their BNPL product offers Nigerians the flexibility to pay extra conveniently, there’s nonetheless a better demand for pre-owned iPhones as new telephones are nonetheless not inside the handy attain of nearly all of Nigerians.
“Wanting on the nation’s financial panorama, Nigerians simply can’t afford to personal good 4G and 5G smartphones, and pre-owned iPhones are a good way for individuals to entry these smartphones at cheaper costs. Apple doesn’t retail brand-new iPhones under the iPhone 11 once more, and so should you’re shopping for a model new iPhone, it’d need to be from the iPhone 11 which prices about ₦400,000 with the rising foreign exchange charges.”
“At Keza Africa, we’re our roadmap and making a market round pre-owned telephones and folks swapping their outdated telephones. It is a goldmine as a result of individuals would need these telephones. The lust for iPhones is just not going to decelerate anytime quickly, so we would as effectively discover methods to make them much more accessible,” Hussaini concluded.
