U.S.-based mobile survey platform GeoPoll is partnering with London-based global research firms TNS and Kantar Media to expand mobile market research in Africa.

The partnership will help GeoPoll expand its media measurement service, and give TNS and Kantar Media access to a platform and database of 200 million users, GeoPoll said Tuesday.

“It’s a big step for market research in Africa, as these large, established companies are acknowledging that mobile is imperative to gather data in Africa,” GeoPoll said in an email to AFKInsider.

GeoPoll claims to be the world’s largest mobile survey platform with a database of more than 200 million cell phone users — and their phone numbers — in emerging markets. It conducts surveys through mobile text messages.

Among GeoPoll’s clients are Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, and governments. GeoPoll provides insight on everything from food security to brand preferences. Its customers have included the U.N. World Food Program, USAID, World Bank, African Development Bank, soft drink and consumer electronics firms, and other market research firms, according to an earlier AFKInsider report.

During the June 2014 FIFA World Cup, GeoPoll launched its Audience Measurement Service in Africa with the first-ever daily TV ratings in five markets — Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana.

When African football fans sat around watching the football tournament, their preferences and habits were measured by market researchers and used by big corporations to sell them things.

James Eberhard, CEO of GeoPoll and its parent company Mobile Accord, has an uncanny ability to understand what’s next in the mobile market, according to Steve Gutterman, Mobile Accord president. “I hesitate to use the word genius, but he really is a visionary,” Gutterman said in an earlier AFKInsider report.

Under the new partnership deal, TNS will get access to GeoPoll’s platform and user database. TNS will use GeoPoll’s mobile surveying platform and user database to conduct mobile research projects for clients throughout Africa. In addition, GeoPoll will become the exclusive provider of mobile sample using their platform in key countries.

TNS’s clients include Unilever; Pepsico; and London-based alcoholic beverages company Diageo, the world’s largest producer of spirits and parent company of Guiness and others; GeoPoll told AFKInsider. All these companies own multiple brands, many of which are household names in Africa.

TNS clients will also include broadcasters both in Africa and internationally who are looking for information on Africa media ratings, as well as advertising agencies that work in Africa, GeoPoll told AFKInsider.

TNS and sister company Kantar Media will work with GeoPoll to expand its Media Measurement Service in selected sub-Saharan Africa countries, providing support in the areas of media planning software, sampling and weighting expertise.

TNS, Kantar Media and GeoPoll will jointly sell Kantar Media’s Global TGI product in a number of markets, bringing regular consumer insights on a sector-by-sector basis.

TNS and Kantar Media, an audience measurement and analytics company, are both part of Kantar, one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy groups, according to a press release. Future collaboration between GeoPoll and Kantar’s other operating companies is a possibility, the press release said.

“Mobile is an increasingly important mode of communication for market researchers, and we’re excited to collaborate with GeoPoll to expand our data product offerings in key African markets,” said Kim MacIlwaine, CEO of TNS Africa, Mediterranean & Middle East, in a prepared statement. “We believe GeoPoll’s robust mobile surveying technology combined with TNS and Kantar Media’s expertise in market and media research will be beneficial to all of our clients working in Africa.”

“GeoPoll has worked hard to drive increased access to quality information in Africa,” Eberhard said in a prepared statement. “We’re excited to partner with TNS and Kantar Media to improve the availability of reliable, cost-effective data across Africa and look forward to expanding the partnership in the coming years.”

In the past two years GeoPoll expanded services in Africa, opening an office in Nairobi, Kenya, and increasing its presence in South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria. Its Media Measurement Service, kicked off during the FIFA World Cup, is still running in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda.

TNS is part of Kantar, the data investment management division of WPP and one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy groups.

Formerly known as Taylor Nelson Sofres, TNS was listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company was bought by WPP Group in 2008 for 1.6 billion pounds ($2.51 billion US).