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Truecaller targets wider user base in Africa

Truecaller targets wider user base in Africa

International call tracking company, Truecaller has confirmed its intention to broaden its market across Africa after the early success of its Truecaller mobile application.

The app allows users to identify callers and filter out spam and unsolicited SMSs. According to the company it has over 50 million users in Africa, with Egypt heading up the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, and Kenya and Nigeria home to the most users in the rest of the continent, most notably Sub-Saharan Africa.

South Africa is the company's fastest growing market says Zakaria Hersi, the company's newly appointed Director of Partnerships.

"The service is identifying more than half a billion calls on a monthly basis in the region, and 50 percent of all SMS users receive is considered as spam," a statement from the company notes.

Truecaller officially launched its African headquarters in Kenya this week and appointed Hersi to lead expansion into Sub-Saharan Africa.

Hersi said the decision to establish headquarters in the East African country was due, in part, to the fact that the country is home to over 6 million of its users.

"One of the reasons was the high number of subscribers... with Kenya being one of the prominent technology hubs."

The company is confident Hersi has the skills required to drive its expansion.

Truecaller said Hersi has helped the Swedish investment firm Kinnevik launch Saltside in Nigeria, as well as opening offices in South America for Besedo, and has worked with some of the world's largest marketplaces (eBay, Match.com, and OLX).

Hersi confirmed the company's intention to continue to focus on establishing partnerships with local and international players.

According to the 2017 Truecaller Insights Special Report The Top 20 Countries Affected by Spam Calls, South Africa (5), Nigeria (9), Egypt (10), Morocco (19) and Kenya (20) are among those countries most affected by unwanted spam calls.

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