With more than 500 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa, mobile phones now provide a cheaper and quicker way for businesses to communicate with customers through mobile customer relationship management (mCRM) systems.
This study, titled, ‘The Impact of Customer Relationship Management Software on Firm Performance in Kenya’ focused on Ajua, a company that provides mobile customer relationship management software to businesses in Africa. Of the 162 firms interviewed, 22% reported using mCRM software although only five respondents were using Ajua’s products. Younger firms, firms with more experienced managers and larger firms were the most likely to turn to innovative mCRM solutions The study suggested that the use of mCRM can boost firm performance: Firms using CRM software had 1.8 times as many customers as firms not using mCRM software. The revenues of firms using mCRM software were 1.9 times higher than the revenues of their peers.
The study was part of a joint program run by the European Investment Bank and the Global Development Network, initiated in 2016, that deployed African researchers to assess the development impacts of the EIB’s work in African and Caribbean countries, allowing the bank to enhance its contribution to sustainable and inclusive development while simultaneously enhancing local research and evaluative capacity.
Name of the Asset | The impact of private sector projects in Africa Studies from the EIB-GDN Program (Study from Cycle II: The Impact of Customer Relationship Management Software on Firm Performance in Kenya)
Type of Asset | Paper in the Volume: The impact of private sector projects in Africa: Studies from the EIB-GDN Program (Cycle II).
Date | 2020
Authors | Abdi Yuya and Laura Barasa
Country and/or Region | Africa, The Caribbean and The Pacific (ACP) countries
Name of the Program | EIB-GDN Program in Applied Development Finance
Download the Full Report | Cycle II