adminPEOPLE speak about Africa as “the mobile continent” so frequently that it has become a cliché. People throw the phrase around as if it explains everything, without interrogating what Africans do with their mobile devices.
One attempt to change that comes courtesy of technology research outfit World Wide Worx, which has published the results of its survey of 3,500 mobile phone users in five of Africa’s major markets – SA, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda.
The survey reveals unsurprisingly that there has been a rise of internet access via phones, the potential demise of Nokia and, a little more surprisingly, the continued appeal of BlackBerry.
According to World Wide Worx, internet browsing via phones now stands at 40% across all five markets, with 51% of respondents in Ghana and 47% in Nigeria reporting that they use their phones to access the internet. SA lags behind at 40% and Kenya (34%) and Uganda (29%) are slowest on the uptake.
Despite a smaller percentage of its people using their mobile devices to access the internet, South Africans lead the way when it comes to app downloads, suggesting higher levels of smartphone ownership. Thirty-four percent of the South African phone users surveyed make downloads from app stores. This compares to 31% in Ghana, 28% in Nigeria, 19% in Kenya and 18% in Uganda.
World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck said this number may could be an indication of better and more stable mobile broadband infrastructure in SA “despite anecdotal reports of the internet being used more actively in Nigeria and Kenya”. — Business Day.
Online Reporter