Eswatini: Uncovering the Shared Hosting Market with Lorinda Bennet, Real Image Services

Eswatini is the smallest country on the continent and is ruled by the king. It is well known for having the best sugar in the World. Before 2018, the country was called Swaziland, but to highlight the independence after colonisation and to end the confusion between the names of Swaziland and Switzerland, the King Mswati III decided to revert to the country's ancient name.

This time, our team visited Eswatini to better understand the potential of local hosting businesses. We met with Lorinda Bennett, Real Image Services, Sales and Marketing Executive. Real Image Services — the first ISP company in Swaziland for ADSL that was started in 1996 and since then provides the Internet, web design, domains, and emails.

Eswatini and Local Potential

Understanding the Eswatini Market

The population of the country is ~1.16M; and there are two official languages: siSwati or just Swazi (the local one) and English (understood by 90% of people). Eswatini is still developing country and does not have many opportunities as international countries around the world. 24/7 support is not common; for online presence, people still prefer social media and Gmail accounts instead of websites (before site.pro).

The local CTLD are .co; .sz; also, .org.sz. There is no single dominant, .com and .net are popular in the country as well. The used local domains of the companies depend on the target market businesses are focusing on. Gmail.com is used not only for emails but for supporting networks too.

Many people are in rural areas, and not everyone has access to smartphones or Internet services, but Internet penetration is growing by ~26%. For online presence, people still prefer social media and Gmail accounts instead of websites (before site.pro) as it is more comfortable for them to use.

Payment Methods and Hosting in Eswatini

Probably everyone has mobile money who is registered with MTNA Eswatini — it comes standard with one’s cell phone number. Credit card payments are mostly used by businesses (companies, corporates), not individuals. Time passed, and due to COVID-19, people started realising the significance of websites and domains as the pandemic forced people to go online. Due to the low number of local hosting providers, the hosting price is higher than in SA as there are still few experts in the hosting industry.

For online payments, clients use bank transfers and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard). If there are tech-savvy people, they can go for free domains and hosting, which does not work well. It is due to the payment method issue, but they try to encourage people to use the domains – create their own websites.

Price and Quality

In Eswatini, people don’t play in one team. Some people care about the price, while others prefer the quality and are ready to pay for professional service. As the country is still developing, not everyone can afford quality, and some clients must choose a cheaper service. On the other hand, Real Image is trying to encourage people to choose professionals, who are ready to help customers at any time.

No matter if the service is pricy or not, quality matters. After-sales — customers should never leave unhappy. Customer service is key, no matter what businesses sell, as a customer is your boss, and products pay salaries.

The Potential of Website Builders

Website builders are coming to the market as it is still something new that people want to build a website with. They might still not know how to do it on themselves. Customers want someone to build a website for them. Due to this need, there is a big market to operate.

Lorinda shares that it would be great if people could do things for themselves without being dependent on other people. Local providers are always here to help, walk through the process and explain everything. However, being able to do something by yourself gives you control over it and make it as you want. For instance, web designers can make a simple website design complicated if the requirements were explained clearly.

Wrapping Up

Rapid digitalisation that started during the pandemic encouraged great changes in the country’s operations. By taking small steps, Eswatini people are moving forward and exploring new ways to develop their businesses. Accessible hosting will be one of the solutions that will help the country to reach a new level in the market.