Why Africa

Established in 2006, the company started to zero in on the African market two years later as competition in cellphone market intensified in China.

Transsion founder and CEO Zhu Zhaojiang has been in the mobile industry for nearly 20 years. Before setting up the company, he was in charge of overseas business for a domestic company and had visited more than 90 countries and regions worldwide.

Transsion cracked the African market in June 2008, with its first office officially opened in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country.

“That was a time when the domestic cellphone market was under more intense competitive pressure; yet there was a gap with huge potential in the African market waiting to be filled, which was exactly what Zhu was eyeing,” said Wang Yanhui, Secretary General of Mobile China Alliance.

Africa is now the world’s second largest mobile market, second only to Asia, and the fastest growing mobile market in the world. Nearly half of the 1.17 billion-strong African population had mobile phone plans by the end of 2015, making up 6 percent of global mobile revenue, according to GSM Association, a worldwide organization of mobile operators.

As 4G becomes available in more African countries, the demand for smartphones is expected to surge. GSM Association predicts the mobile market in Africa will reach 730 million subscribers by 2020.

Given such significant prospects for growth, localization is a wise choice. Transsion employs more than 2,400 locals in its African facilities, with local employees making up 90 percent