NEWS
Mild decline
in Egypt
smartphone
market amid
COVID-19 crisis
Egypt’s smartphone market experienced
one of the smallest declines in the whole
Middle East and North Africa region in
Q1 2020, according to the latest research
conducted by the International Data
Corporation (IDC).
FinTech regulatory
framework crucial to
combat financial crime
The global technology and consulting
services firm’s Worldwide Mobile Phone
Tracker shows that smartphone shipments
to the country declined 6.3% quarter on
quarter (QoQ) in Q1 2020 to total 2.82
million units, making up 75% of overall
mobile phone shipments for the quarter.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has
impacted Egypt’s smartphone market in two
phases – first through disruptions to supplies
from China, and then through weakened
consumer demand from the middle of
March. Looking at the vendor landscape,
Oppo led the country’s smartphone market
in terms of shipments in Q1 2020, followed
closely by Samsung. Xiaomi and realme are
focused on increasing the market shares
they gained over the course of 2019.
“The established Chinese vendors like
Transsion (Infinix, Tecno and Itel) and
Huawei are challenged by supplychain
disruptions and an influx of more
affordable models from the competition,”
said Taher Abdel Hameed, a Senior
Research Analyst at IDC. “However,
the fallout from COVID-19 will cause
hardships even for the fast-growing brands
throughout the remainder of 2020 and
will force them to adjust their pricing and
model portfolio strategies.”
leading figure from Standard
A Chartered says a robust FinTech
regulatory framework is crucial to Africa’s
financial prospects.
Emmanuel DeGroote, Regional Head of
Compliance, Africa and Middle East, for
Standard Chartered, has argued that a
sweeping transformation in the African
financial sector has resulted in this need.
“As with any technological
advancement, the prospects of FinTech
led prosperity bring a host of risks and
a sound regulatory framework is the
only approach that can promote fair
outcomes for people and reduce the risks
of predatory practices against vulnerable
customers,” he said. “Implementing a
regulatory framework for FinTech could
support the development of a more
digitised and robust financial system as
well as pave the way for more innovation
and frictionless digital banking solutions.
With the threat of cyber-attacks, data
vulnerability, fraud and more, FinTech
can negatively impact stakeholders,
FinTech entities, and banking and
nonbanking participants, which is why it
is imperative to strengthen safeguards
and supervision in order to promote
consumer safety, financial stability and
market confidence.”
He added that the introduction of
appropriate regulations can promote
transparency and strengthen defence
mechanisms to mitigate risks of cyberattacks,
breach of consumer data, fraud
and money laundering. •
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