Opera can now boast of more than 100 million users across the continent. It has a market share of 86.4% in Kenya, 71.83% in Nigeria and 53.1% in South Africa.
This news is according to the State of the Mobile Web Africa 2016 Report released by Opera. The report highlights the trends of mobile internet across the continent. Looking at factors such as users browsing behaviors and the app usage.
Opera and Opera Mini, both known for their data compression technology, is particularly popular among users looking to save on their mobile data consumption while maintaining speed of browsing.
In Africa countries like Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, and Mauritius are among the highest data consumers with an average of 160MB/month of data being consumed. The report also shows that visits to streaming sites using Opera Mini has increased by 36% since 2012. With Tanzanians (22%) being the most likely to visit YouTube followed closely by South Africa (20%) and Ghana (19%).
App usage rankings across Africa
1st Place – South Africa: A third of South Africans use mobile apps.
2nd Place – Ghana: 31% of Ghanaians use mobile apps
3rd Place – Nigeria: with 19% of population using mobile apps.
4th Place – Kenya: 19% use mobile apps
5th Place – Uganda: 18% use mobile apps
In the case of Nigeria, social media usage is quite common. 70% of Nigerians on Facebook accessing the social network via the Opera Mini browser. Compared to 2014, Nigerians accessing news content online increased by 300% compared to 2014. And all these traffic is via the Opera Mini browser.
“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.
“The #DataMustFall movement in South Africa demonstrates that people don’t feel like they’re getting value for money. The compression technology used in Opera Mini and Opera Max helps consumers save on data costs and addresses issues relating to congestion and page sizes. Ultimately, a lighter mobile web enhances usability, functionality and access – even in poor network conditions.”
The report also reveals that Nigerians using Opera Mini have been able to save up to $230 million in data cost. While Kenyans saved $116 million and South Africans $111 million.
To access the State of the Mobile Web Africa 2016 Report by Opera click here [pdf].