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Zimbabwe All Media and Products Survey, ZAMPS, Jan - Jun 2013 data released today
Jill Day, Zimbabwe Advertising Research Foundation (ZARF)
October 15, 2013

Over the past year, 1 per cent of rural dwellers have moved from outright poverty into the cash economy, reflecting an improvement in their living standards in the first six months of 2013, according to the Zimbabwe All Media and Products Survey.

Commissioned by the Zimbabwe Advertising Research Foundation and undertaken by Research Bureau International, ZAMPS contains over 1 million facts about what Zimbabweans read, watch, listen to and buy. It is essential information for anyone wishing to grow a business or sell a product in this market.

The first half of 2013 data, released today (October 15) shows a 2 per cent decrease in rural unemployment – but a 6 per cent increase in urban people without jobs. Nationally, the number of people who have no source of income has dropped to 10 per cent from 16 per cent a year ago. In urban areas it dropped to 7 per cent from 13 per cent and in rural ones to 11 from 17 per cent.

Support from family members, however, grew from 35 per cent to 45 per cent over the year. This 10 per cent increase is mirrored in rural areas: in urban ones the increase was 9 per cent. 4 per cent more people are self-employed nationally, while the number of people working in the formal sector showed a 1 per cent drop. Contract workers dropped from 14 to 11 per cent.

Nationally, the number of people owning cellphones grew from 85 to 87 per cent. In urban areas the increase was from 92 to 93 per cent, while in rural areas it rose from 80 to 83 per cent. Nokia’s national market share grew from 60 to 65 per cent (and 67 in rural areas) followed by Samsung, static at 18 per cent. G-Tide was the loser, dropping from 3 to 1 per cent.

Econet remains the mobile phone network giant: it grew market share nationally by 1 per cent to 75 per cent. Telecel, at 22 per cent and NetOne at 11 per cent, are unchanged, as is Econet’s rural market share. Its growth came from urban cellphone users, up to 74 from 71 per cent. Research noted a 3 per cent increase in dual network usership – in urban areas it rose from 5 to 8 per cent and in rural ones from 5 to 7 per cent.

Fewer people have bank accounts: both building societies and banks registered a 1 per cent drop from 4 to 3 and 17 to 16 per cent respectively. 19 per cent of Zimbabweans have a bank account, 31 per cent of them urban and 12 per cent rural. Most popular product is the ATM card, up to 78 from 68 per cent nationally, from 73 to 81 per cent for city slickers and from 57 to 74 per cent in rural areas. Debit card use grew from 0 to 4 per cent nationally and in rural areas from 1 to 5 per cent.

The number of people with current accounts is unchanged but those holding savings accounts rose nationally to 83 from 77 per cent. More people took out loans, now representing 3 per cent of the population, up from 1 per cent a year ago. Internet banking rose nationally from 0 to 2 per cent: it was 2 per cent for urban households in the last survey.

CABS market share grew from 79 to 95 per cent, reaching 100 per cent in rural areas, up from 78 per cent. Ecocash rules the mobile cash market with 88 per cent of people knowing about it, up from 80 per cent a year ago. 47 per cent of citizens have used it, up from 33 per cent.

The insurance market has grown by 2 per cent overall, from 17 to 19 per cent. In rural areas, however, it grew from 10 to 15 per cent. Funeral insurance is the most popular product, followed by medical aid. Fidelity and First Mutual (particularly popular for its medical aid scheme) grew market share since this time last year.

Nationally most people – 49 per cent – shop in general stores but OK Bazaars, with urban market share growing from 59 to 68 per cent and from 40 to 48 per cent in the country, is fast catching up. TM, showing national growth from 31 to 36 per cent, lies second, while Spar flat-lined nationally at 26 per cent. 40 per cent of Zimbabweans spend less that $50 a month on groceries, with a further 30 per cent spending between $51-100.

When it comes to NGOs and donors, 70 per cent of Zimbabweans have no idea where aid comes from. Some recognise that we receive food aid – 18 per cent, down from 24 per cent – and education support, at 19 per cent, up from 15 per cent a year ago. Health care, AIDS, child protection, water and sanitation received recognition by about 3 per cent of the population. America is seen, overwhelmingly, as the major donor.

Onto who buys which products. Consumption of opaque beer, wines and spirits has increased in rural areas during the last year, as have eating sweets, chocolate and chewing gum. Use of toiletries remains the same, flour use has increased from 61 to 66 per cent – this figure is the same for urban and rural bakers. Luxury lines like cheese, peanut butter, sauces, gravies and relishes grew by around 10 per cent in rural areas but declined by a couple of percentage points in urban ones.

Overall, TV viewership has dropped from 66 to 59 per cent in urban areas and to 41 from 49 per cent in rural ones. Watchers of satellite TV remains static at 23 per cent in rural areas but dropped to 60 per cent from 70 percent in urban areas. ZBC Channel 2 garners 26 per cent of national viewership, down from 32 per cent.

SABC remains the most popular satellite station at 32 per cent of the population, up from 29 per cent, followed by Emmanuel TV at 10 per cent, which is where BTV, now 6 per cent, was a year ago. Satellite subscribers have dropped from 38 to 30 per cent in urban areas but rose from 18 to 23 per cent in rural ones.

Radio listenership has risen overall by 2 per cent to 63 per cent. Radio Zimbabwe, with 41 per cent of the market, remains the most popular station, followed by Power FM, whose listenership has dropped from 32 to 28 per cent. Rising rapidly is Star FM at 14 per cent, up from 8 per cent in the last dip, while ZiFM goes from 6 to 8 per cent.
Listening to international stations has dropped to 1.9 per cent from 2.2 per cent. Studio 7 remains the most popular, with 1.6 per cent of Zimbabweans tuning in, down from 2 per cent, while SWRadio Africa and VOP remain steady just below 1 per cent. Urban listenership of both of them has risen to above 1 per cent while rural listenership is static. Of people who listen to the radio, 19 per cent do so on their mobile phones, down from 22 per cent a year ago.

The only significant change in the ownership of durables is solar power, with 27 per cent of the population now using it, up from 18 per cent. This growth is rural: 42 per cent of farmers now use it, compared with 28 per cent a year ago.

National newspaper readership continues to decline. 42 per cent of the population read a daily paper compared with 44 per cent a year ago. The Herald, at 24 per cent market share, Daily News and NewsDay, both at 12 per cent, and the Chronicle at 7 per cent, all dropped one percentage point. The biggest loser is H Metro, down to 13 from 17 per cent. Newcomer Southern Eye achieved 1 per cent readership in urban areas only.

NewsDay lost urban market shared, down to 18 from 23 per cent, and Daily News dropped marginally from 20 to 18 per cent. Rural readership of all papers except H Metro – 3 per cent down – is steady.

Seventy-four per cent of newspaper readers read one paper only, 25 per cent buy the Herald and NewsDay, 20 per cent buy NewsDay and the Daily News (14 per cent buy Daily News and NewsDay) Only 1 per cent – 2 per cent in towns and cities – buy four newspapers a day.

Sunday Mail, with 483,652 copies being read – not printed or bought – each week, is far and away the most popular weekly, followed by the Manica Post with 111,237 copies read. The Sunday News scores 69,992, B Metro 68,861, The Standard 56,670, Kwayedza 44,339, Financial Gazette 27,179 (urban only) Umthunywa 25,005, Zimbabwe Independent 17,921, Daily News on Sunday 13,938, The Zimbabwean 89111 (all urban) The Patriot 8,656 and the Mail & Guardian 8,628 (all urban).

The research shows a minimal increase – from 3.0 to 3.2 per cent – in readership of monthlies, driven by a 1 per cent increase in rural readership, rising to 2 per cent. Kick Off is the most popular magazine, followed by Outpost and Soccer Guide.

Outdoor advertising remains the most visible way of getting your product or service message across. Awareness of it has grown from 58 to 68 per cent nationally and to 76 per cent in urban areas. Mobile promotion units are static at 23 per cent overall but grew from 39 to 44 per cent in urban areas, while roadshows rose from 30 to 34 per cent in towns but dropped from 17 to 10 per cent in rural areas.

Cinema advertisements showed the greatest growth, leaping from 6 to 15 per cent nationally and from 11 to 26 per cent in towns and cities.

Internet access continues to increase, from 22 to 24 per cent nationally and from 9 to 13 per cent in country areas. Most people – 20 per cent, up from 16 – access it on their mobiles. This figure is 35 per cent in urban areas and 11 per cent in rural ones. Facebook, with 19 per cent of Zimbabweans signed up, is the most popular site, followed by Google. The only local site that warranted a mention in the data is the Herald, registering just above 0.

More information on ZARF and ZAMPS at www.zarf.co.zw

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