Opera’s latest State of the Mobile Web Report covers the World Cup and explores mobile web trends in Africa, where growths of 100’s and 1000’s of percent isn’t unusual.
Mobile web use is exploding in Africa, according to Opera’s State of the Mobile Web Report (http://www.opera.com/smw/). Triple-digit growth rates are routine in the region where page views in the top 12 countries in Africa increased by 182% year-over-year, unique users increased by 124%, and the amount of data transferred increased by 160%. The top 12 African countries for mobile use are
- South Africa
- Nigeria
- Kenya
- Egypt
- Ghana
- Sudan
- Libya
- Tanzania
- Ivory Coast
- Namibia
- Mozambique
- Mauritius
Sudan and Ghana lead the top 12 countries of the region in terms of page-view growth (4,645.6% and 916.5%, respectively). Sudan and Ghana also lead the top 12 countries of the region in growth of unique users (1,225.0% and 498.8%, respectively). Kenya leads the top 12 countries of the region in page views per user, with each user browsing a staggering 639 pages on average each month – in comparison the UK users of Opera view “just” 306 pages per user per month.
Facebook, Google and YouTube all do well in Africa, with Facebook the top-ranked site in six of the twelve listed countries, and Google is ranked #1 in the remaining six countries.
Nokia remains the most popular handset brand in Africa, followed by Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and LG.
“The mobile web is growing quickly throughout Africa,” said Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder, Opera Software. “The mobile web is critical in the region, where mobile phone penetration is substantially higher than PC penetration. The widespread availability of mobile phones means the mobile web can reach tens of millions more than the wired web. I’m honored Opera Mini has a part to play, as the mobile web begins reshaping the economic, political and social development of the continent.”