Honey Ogundeyi, industry manager at Google Nigeria, advised brands to think mobile. (mobilewestafrica.com)
Speaking today during the session "Mobile first: the time for mobile is now", at Mobile Web West Africa 2013, in Lagos, she said 79 per cent of large advertisers do not have a mobile optimised site.
She said while Nigeria and other African nations may not be able to compete with Silicon Valley and other developed nations, "mobile is an opportunity for Africa and Nigeria to be at the forefront and at the same level with Silicon Valley”.
According to Ogundeyi, within the last three years Nigeria recorded 17 times growth in the number of smartphone users, while Nigerians, especially the young demography, are spending more time with their mobile devices.
"On average, a Nigerian looks at his or her mobile phone 150 times daily," she said.
She also corrected the popular notion that there is migration from desktop to mobile.
According to her, the scenario in Nigeria is different because it is mobile direct.
She justified this position with Google Nigeria's analyses showing 100 per cent growth in mobile search queries in Nigeria within the last year.
She however decried the low proportion of media expenditure on mobile that currently stands at just 2 per cent of media spending.
Ogundeyi noted the rising increase in mobile video viewers in Nigeria which she said significantly started with D'banj's Oliver Twist Competition.
"It was the first Nigerian video to have 10 million views and more than 23,000 subscribers within eight months," she said.
For advertisers interested in enjoying the benefits of mobile, she recommended five actions to take.
"Create a mobile specific site, think local, be creative, track independently and iterate, and be integrated," she said.
She advised brands and advertisers to assess the website's mobile optimisation status with howtogomo.com
