Mobile phones driving Facebook user growth in Africa, where Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya rule

MORE than 80% of the 120 million Africans using Facebook access the site through their mobile phones, the social media group said Thursday.

“Mobile is not a trend; it’s the fastest adoption of disruptive technology in the history of communication,” said Facebook’s head of Africa Nunu Ntshingila.

Africa has experienced an explosion of mobile phone penetration in recent years which the International Communications Union estimates to be around 63%.

For many Africans faced with poor or non-existent landline infrastructure, mobile phones have also offered a route to the Internet without laptops or desktop computers.

More than a quarter of Africa’s total Facebook users are found in three countries—Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, according to statistics released Thursday 11th September.

Nigeria has 15 million users, South Africa 12 million and Kenya 4.5 million. Notably, Facebook said 100% of its monthly users in Nigeria and South Africa are on mobile phones. In Kenya, 95% are on mobile.

Daily users in Kenya are 2.2 million, 7.1 million in Nigeria and 12 million in South Africa.

Facebook, which opened its first African office in Johannesburg earlier this year, saw its user population on the continent swell to 120 million in June from 100 million in September 2014.

Two-thirds of all Internet users in Africa are active on Facebook, it said.

Credit: mgafrica.com