Ghanaians among highest data users in Africa

Ghanaians have been named as one of the highest data users in Africa.

Ghanaians, Kenyans, Seychellois and Mauritians according to internet company, Opera’s latest report on the State of the Mobile Web Africa 2016 use on the average over 160MB a month.

The report also revealed that visits to streaming video websites on Opera Mini in Africa have increased by 36% since 2012.

Users from Tanzania (22%) are most likely to visit YouTube followed by South Africa (20%) and Ghana (19%).

Opera’s report, which highlights mobile internet trends across the continent, including consumer browsing behavior and app usage also ranked South Africa as the first in Africa in terms of app usage, with a third of its population using mobile applications.

South Africa is followed by 31% in Ghana, 28% in Nigeria, 19% in Kenya and 18% in Uganda.

Nigerians are regular social media users with 70% of Nigeria’s 16 million Facebook users, accessing the site via Opera Mini.

In addition, Opera Mini users are accessing local news as much as 300% more than in 2014.               Opera  known for its compression technology and mobile browsers, including Opera Mini (www.Opera.com/Mobile/Mini/Android) – compiles regular global mobile web reports, shedding light on opportunities and challenges within the digital environment.
“We believe data compression is as relevant and useful now as it was a decade ago – in fact, with the growth of smartphone penetration coupled with prohibitively high data costs, it’s a critical enabler,” says Richard Monday, VP for Opera, Africa.
In 2016, Opera’s compression technology has allowed South Africans to save approximately US$111m in data costs, with Nigerians and Kenyans saving US$280m and US$116m, respectively.
Opera currently has 100 million users in Africa, with an 86.41% market share in Kenya, 71.83% in Nigeria and 53.1% in South Africa.

By:  Vivian Kai Lokko/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana