Explosion in mobile Internet use in Africa

4 August 2010

Mobile Internet use in Africa is growing all the time.

According to the Norwegian navigator Opera, the number of single users accessing the Web from their mobile telephones has increased by 124 percent, and the number of pages viewed by 182 percent.

Facebook, Google and YouTube are some of the most-visited sites on the continent. Twitter is one of the ten most popular sites in South Africa and in Kenya.  Information sites such as CNN, the BBC or L’Equipe are also popular.

The data published by Opera represent just part of mobile Internet use in Africa. Other navigators are also available.

Since the number of mobiles is greater than the number of computers, the majority of Internet connections are made by this means. The poor quality of landlines also encourages the use of the mobile Web.

South Africa is the leading African country in terms of Internet connection by telephone, followed by Egypt and Kenya. Last December, the continent had over 400 million subscribers.

Category: ICT