Swedish firm Truecaller has stepped into the African advertising space as it seeks to monetise its mobile application user base on the continent.
In a statement, the social media firm says it will start operating Truecaller Ads in Africa, including Kenya. This means that companies can now advertise on the Truecaller application, which has about 40 million users in Africa.
“In today’s digital era where consumers spend a considerable amount of their time on their mobile devices, it’s time to engage with consumers in the most concerted manner for the mobile-first community,” said Truecaller’s chief commercial officer, Ted Nelson.
The Truecaller app lets smartphone users identify and filter calls. Truecaller started selling ads last year and has been focused on India through a partnership with Google.
In Africa, it expects key growth markets to include Egypt, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Morocco.
Already, Truecaller says, it is seeing daily impressions of five million on its ad platform in Nigeria.
Founded in 2009, Truecaller has recently been searching for ways to generate revenue from its popular application.