Local African community propels Swedish calling app
Rebtel, with over 100,000 customers in Texas, aims to grow in the Houston area and ‘be a part of the community’
W hen Waidi Shodimu needs to call family in Nigeria, he heads to Southwest Farmers Market, an African grocery store inside the beltway, to meet with Tolulope Aladejobi.
Aladejobi, a sales representative for the international calling app Rebtel, is often stationed at a bright red table at the store’s entrance. Upon seeing Shodimu, she accepts his phone and credit card. She proceeds to load credits for calls to his account while he completes his grocery shopping.
Rebtel, a Swedish mobile app company, has become a household name within Houston’s African community, mainly made up of more than 40,000 Nigerians, and is seeking to expand here. Rebtel, which surpassed $100 million in revenue this year and has more than 100,000 customers in Texas, will open its first U.S. storefront next to the Southwest Farmers Market before year’s end.
“Our ambition is to be a part of the community,” said Magnus Larson, Rebtel’s CEO.
The Rebtel app has become popular with African immigrants because it lets them connect with relatives and friends in areas with low internet speeds or no internet at all — unlike free international calling and texting services such as WhatsApp and Viber, which require both parties to have a wireless internet connection. Rebtel offers prepaid plans through its app, with rates that are competititive wtih traditional phone cards.
For calls to Nigeria, customers
can buy 41 minutes for $5 or 83 minutes for $10. If customers sign up for a $3 a month membership, they can get 76 minutes for $5.
Rebtel, headquartered in Stockholm, is competing for a piece of the $80 billlion international calling market by focusing on migrant communities around the world. The company launched its app in 2006 with the broad goal of being a one-stop shop for individuals starting over in new countries. The first step was offering immigrants a way to check in with loved ones back home by creating an easy, affordable international calling system. The company plans to add money transfer and digital banking services through the app for immigrants’ financial needs.
For now, customers can download the app, create an account by verifying their U.S. phone number, then add their phone’s contacts and their credit information. From there customers can purchase time in the app and simply call the uploaded numbers the way they would when making a phone call in the United States.
Houston’s African community has used Rebtel since at least 2014. The company has built the Houston market by hiring African immigrants as locally based sales representatives, which Rebtel calls “activists.”
These sales reps are independent contactors, similar to representatives of the cosmetic company Avon, who promote the product to friends and neighbors. These workers earn an average of about $450 a week through commissions.
Oromeni Olayiwole, manager of activists and operations in Texas, said having workers who share cultural ties with customers helps create a sense of trust that leads to sales. They establish rapport with customers by sharing slang, like “odikwa good” (This is good) or “Biko my broda” (Please, my brother). There’s a mutual understanding of what’s a good sale and what isn’t.
“They know you wouldn’t sell them anything that wouldn’t be good for them,” Olayiwole added.
Several of the sales reps were also Rebtel customers before they got hired, so they can speak to their personal experiences when pitching the app to potential customers.
For example, Olayiwole, who has lived in the U.S. for 10 years, frequently talks to her mother and sister in Nigeria. When she first heard about job opportunities with Rebtel, it felt like a nobrainer given how heavily she already relied on the company’s services.
“Africans still have that connection with home,” Olayiwole said.
Rebtel, which initially relied on word of mouth to sell its app, has had sales reps on the ground in Houston for about a year. Once customers started noticing them around Houston, they began to meet sales reps for billing questions, updates on promotions and even the occasional assistance with loading credits.
The Houston storefront will provide a central location for customers to find assistance, especially once banking services are offered through the app, said Christian Larsen, Rebtel’s head of direct sales.
In the meantime, gathering spots such as a table inside the Amala Zone restaurant near Westpark Tollway work just fine. The restaurant, which specializes in the Nigerian Yoruba tribe yambased dish, amala, has partnered with Rebtel to offer discounts on meals for any customer that signs up with the app there.
Tunge Idown, who has been a Rebtel customer for eight years, always makes sure to check in with the app workers whenever he stops by for a meal. The app, he said, has proved much easier to use than traditional calling cards..
“When you call, it’s so clear,” Idown said. “It’s like you’re talking to a person next to you.”