Opera Users In Africa Hits 100m, Nigeria Takes 71.83% Market Share

Image

opera-users-africa

By Dipo Olowookere

Top internet company, Opera, has disclosed in its latest report that it has hit 100 million users in Africa. It also said it has an 86.41% market share in Kenya, 71.83% in Nigeria and 53.1% in South Africa.

The report tagged State of the Mobile Web Africa 2016 Report highlighted mobile internet trends across the continent, including consumer browsing behaviour and app usage.

Opera, known for its compression technology and mobile browsers, including Opera Mini, compiles regular global mobile web reports, shedding light on opportunities and challenges within the digital environment.

The report revealed that Ghanaians, Kenyans, Seychellois and Mauritians are the highest data users with an average usage of over 160MB/month.

Findings also show 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%).

The report further disclosed that South Africa ranks first in Africa in terms of app usage, with a third of its population using mobile applications, 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.

Compression is key

“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.”

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.

Share
Related Stories
Image
12-March-2024

UK Hunts for African Startups to Boost $1trn Tech Sector

By Adedapo Adesanya The United Kingdom Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is seeking promising tech start-up companies across the world through the Unicorn Kingdom: Pathfinder Awards (UKPA) as part of efforts to boost its tech sector valued at $1 trillion.  In June 2023, the UK’s Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Ms Kemi Badenoch, during her keynote speech at London Tech Week 2023 unveiled the UKPA to identify the brightest and best tech companies around the world. “Winners will be flown to the UK and given support to help them accelerate their business growth,” she said at the

Image
11-March-2024

Moniepoint Seeks Entries for 4th Women in Tech Programme

By Modupe Gbadeyanka One of the major players in the financial services sector in Nigeria, Moniepoint Incorporated, has announced the launch of this year’s edition of the Women in Tech initiative, with intending participants expected to apply via https://womenintech.moniepoint.com. The programme is to provide women with the opportunity to grow their skills in the male-dominated sector by gaining the necessary experience to advance their careers. Selected applicants get to spend time working on real projects to help shape digital finance in Africa, as alumni from the programme have become active contributors to the development of their products making a huge

Image
13-March-2024

Airtel Africa Begins Construction of Data Centre in Lagos

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The construction of a data centre in Nigeria by Airtel Africa Plc has commenced, with the ground-breaking ceremony attended by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr Bosun Tijani. The new facility, Nxtra, is located in the Victoria Island of Lagos and has been tipped to be one of Africa’s largest networks of data centres. Airtel Africa said this development underscores its commitment to meeting the continent’s data management needs by providing trusted and sustainable data centre capacity to serve the fast-growing African digital economy. “We strongly

Image
18-March-2024

NameCheap Suspends XpressVerify After NIN Database Breach Report

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A popular web hosting platform, NameCheap, has suspended a Nigerian website, XpressVerify, which was accused of commercialising data of Nigerians. FIJ Nigeria had on Sunday reported that the website had “unrestricted access to the National Identification Numbers (NINs) and personal details of every registered Nigerian.” The company charges N200 to retrieve personal details of any Nigerian registered by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for NIN. Personal details of Nigerians like phone numbers, full names, NIN, address and photographs could be accessed after the payment of N200. After outcry following the report of the alleged data breach,

More Stories
Image
24-March-2020

Nigerian Senator Rose Oko Dies in UK Hospital

By Dipo Olowookere A female lawmaker representing Cross River North Senatorial District, Mrs Rose Okoji Oko, has died at a United Kingdom medical facility. The second term Senator, who is Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, was aged 63. She died after a battle with an undisclosed illness. A relative of the deceased, Mr Patrick Ikorgor Okoroji, who confirmed the unfortunate incident, said the first female representative from her senatorial district traveled to the UK for medical attention but succumbed to the disease on Monday night. “Heart broken to hear of the passing of my dear Cousin Senator Dr

Image
16-January-2019

Banks Unlikely to Declare Huge Profits in 2019—Coronation Research

By Dipo Olowookere An arm of Coronation Asset Management Limited, Coronation Research, has said banks operating in Nigeria are unlikely to post large gains in profits this year. In its 2019 economic outlook report titled A Tale of Two Halves, Coronation Research, a leading financial services company licensed and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), further said the deposit money banks will also not experience much loan growth, given the weak economy and the fact that they can benefit from high treasury bill yields. Speaking on the report, the Head of Coronation Research, Mr Guy Czatoryski, said if

Image
28-October-2022

Zenith Bank Customer Deposits Swell to N8.04trn in Nine Months

By Dipo Olowookere Zenith Bank Plc has again demonstrated that its shareholders can go into a deep sleep, knowing that the company is in safe hands and their investments will continue to grow. On Thursday, the financial institution announced its unaudited results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022, with gross earnings growing by 20 per cent to N620.6 billion from the N518.7 billion achieved in the same period of last year. The organisation generated more revenue from its various business segments despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, which has put some companies under pressure. It was observed that the

Image
25-October-2019

Friesland, UBN Properties Lead NASD Exchange to 0.54% Loss

By Adedapo Adesanya  Trading activities at the platform for the buying and selling of unlisted securities in Nigeria, the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange, closed negative on Thursday, October 24, 2019. The bearish closure happened a day after the market recorded its first gains of the week. At the close of transactions yesterday, the market capitalisation depreciated by 0.54 percent or N2.71 billion to close at N494.67 billion in contrast to the N497.38 billion recorded at the previous market day. Also, the NASD Security Index (NSI) recorded a reduction from what was quoted in the previous session as NSI went

Image
23-January-2020

Total Transactions on NSE Drop 20% in 2019 to N1.9trn

By Dipo Olowookere **As Domestic Investors Dominate The total value transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) from January 2019 to December 2019 depreciated by nearly 20 percent (precisely by 19.8 percent), data obtained by Business Post has revealed. In the Nigerian Stock Exchange’s Domestic & Foreign Portfolio Investment Report for December 2019, it was revealed that last year, transactions valued at N1.9 trillion were recorded at the bourse, lower than the N2.4 trillion achieved in 2018. From the figures, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) contributed 48.9 percent (N943 billion) of the total trades, while local investors had

Image
11-January-2021

9mobile Hires Strategist, Others for Market Share Expansion

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Three new appointments have been made by one of the leading telecommunications companies in Nigeria, 9mobile, as part of efforts to expand its share of the market. In a statement issued on Monday, 9mobile said it has seen qualified professionals to fill the positions of Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Deputy Chief Technical Officer, and Director of Strategy within its senior management team. In the statement, Nigeria’s most innovative and customer-centric telco said Mr Juergen Peschel has been appointed as the CTO, Mr Baqi Salihu as the Deputy CTO, and Mr Karn Gulati as the Director of Strategy.

Image
27-September-2017

Oyo Commemorates World Tourism Day with Mountaineering

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Oyo State Government on Tuesday said that activities marking the 2017 World Tourism Day will come up on Wednesday, September 27, 2017 with mountaineering at the Ado Awaye suspended lake which is one of the two lakes on the hill in the World. The government said the climax of the one day activities is the mountaineering of the 246 steps Ado Awaye hill at Ado Awaye suspended lake, Iseyin. The State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism Mr Toye Arulogun said that Stakeholders in the Tourism industries, media and general public are expected to be part

Image
26-November-2016

Osinbajo In Abu Dhabi To Foster Economic Ties

By Dipo Olowookere Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, has travelled to Abu Dhabi to honour an invitation from the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who is also the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the UAE Armed Forces, His Highness, Sheik Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Mr Osinbajo is representing President Muhammadu Buhari as Special Guest at the Eight Race of the Grand Prize of Union Airways for Formula 1, organised by Abu Dhabi holding this weekend. The visit, according to a press statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media & Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, is to

Ad
Ad
Recent Stories
Image
19-March-2024

Brent Jumps to $86 Per Barrel on Low Crude Exports, Stronger Demand

By Adedapo Adesanya  The price of the international crude benchmark, Brent Crude, rose by 88 cents or 1.0 per cent to $86.22 per barrel on Monday, triggered by lower crude exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia and signs of stronger demand and economic growth in China and the US. Also, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated by $1.01 or 1.3 per cent to $82.05 per barrel, as Iraq, the second-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said it would reduce crude exports to 3.3 million barrels a day in the coming months to compensate

Image
18-March-2024

Cardoso Begins CBN Clean-up, Removes Directors Close to Emefiele

By Aduragbemi Omiyale There are strong indications that some directors at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may have to lose their jobs in the in-house clean-up exercise by the Governor, Mr Yemi Cardoso. Reports suggest that Mr Cardoso wants to let go of some directors who worked closely with Mr Godwin Emefiele, who President Bola Tinubu believes worked to stop him from going to Aso Rock. Recall that during his electioneering campaign, Mr Tinubu accused the former CBN chief and some persons of introducing the botched Naira redesign policy to frustrate him. Immediately after he assumed office on May

Image
18-March-2024

Profit-Taking Depletes Nigerian Exchange by 0.40%

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited succumbed to profit-taking on Monday, shedding 0.40 per cent despite a bullish investor sentiment. The local bourse ended with 27 price gainers and 18 price losers today, implying a positive market breadth index. The selling pressure was just investors booking profit after gains in the past few trading sessions, especially in MTN Nigeria, GTCO, Zenith Bank and others. The heaviest price depreciation was recorded by McNichols, 9.30 per cent, closing at N1.17, and was trailed by DAAR Communications, which shed 8.97 per cent to 71 Kobo. UPDC declined by 7.89 per cent

Image
18-March-2024

NCC Announces 90% Restoration of Voice, Data Services After Cable Cuts

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has announced that voice and data services affected by undersea cable cuts last week have been 90 per cent restored. In a series of tweets signed by Mr Reuben Muoka, the Director of Public Affairs at the commission on Monday, March 18, the NCC said, “Following the disruption on March 14, 2024, which affected data and voice services due to cuts in undersea fibre optics along the coasts of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, we are pleased to announce that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities.”

Image
18-March-2024

Unity Bank, SkillPaddy to Train Female Software Engineers

By Modupe Gbadeyanka At least 1,000 female software engineers will undergo a training programme organised by SkillPaddy through its Count Her In tech programme with support from Unity Bank Plc. The IT skill development and empowerment initiative is intended to bridge talent supply gaps while providing individuals with the opportunity to meet their training goals and launch careers in the tech industry. It was disclosed that about 40 young girls will receive full sponsorship from Unity Bank in the special training initiative which was conceived as part of activities to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day 2024. All beneficiaries of

Image
18-March-2024

Your Moods Soundtracked With Spotify’s New Daylist Feature

Throughout the day, your mood changes, and so does the music you listen to. Last night might have been an island vibes riddim Monday night, while this moment is more of a nostalgic 2010s Tuesday afternoon. The point is, that you’re ever-changing, and your playlists should be too. Say hello to daylist, your day in a playlist. This new, one-of-a-kind playlist on Spotify ebbs and flows with unique vibes, bringing together the niche music you typically listen to during particular moments in the day or on specific days of the week. It updates frequently between sunrise and sunset with a

Image
18-March-2024

Stanbic IBTC Adopts Mala Kachallah Model School, Three Others

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Mala Kachallah Model School in Maiduguri, Borno State; Methodist School Mbiafun Nkwono Ikono, Akwa Ibom State; Aramoko District School, Aramoko Ekiti State; and Magin Rafi Model Primary School Tudun Wada, Sokoto State have been adopted by Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. The leading financial services provider in Nigeria revamped these citadels of learning under its Adopt-a-School programme structured on the company’s Social, Environmental, and Economic (SEE) framework, which aligns with its mission to be a responsible corporate citizen. It was learned that Stanbic IBTC renovated and rebuilt classroom blocks, provided modern and conducive learning environments, furnished classrooms, established

Image
18-March-2024

Nigeria’s Data Regulator Investigates Alleged NIMC Breach

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) is investigating allegations of unauthorised access to the personal data of enrollees in the database of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). This was disclosed by Mr Vincent Olatunji, the National Commissioner of the data regulation body in a statement signed by Head of Legal, Enforcement and Regulations, NPDC, Mr Babatunde Bamigboye on Monday. He said the investigation is a further regulatory measure to be taken by the commission in the wake of public concerns over reports of illegal access, to the personal data of enrollees by a shadowy entity called

Image
18-March-2024

Russia Validates Partnership with Republic of Congo

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh Over the years, Russia and the Republic of Congo have had good bilateral relations and, undoubtedly, there are still prospects for strengthening these relations, especially in the economy and security spheres as underlined during the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Denis Sassou-Nguesso in the Kremlin. “Our countries have always had friendly relations that have been developing this way for 55 years now. Our trade is growing – by over 60 per cent – although, unfortunately, the numbers in absolute terms are still modest. But, we have good potential in several industries, such as energy, the processing

Image
18-March-2024

2,250 Professionals for Interswitch Job Shadowing Programme

By Modupe Gbadeyanka An initiative known as Job Shadowing Programme designed to empower about 2,250 professionals through immersive training, tailored coaching, and mentorship sessions has been introduced by one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, Interswitch. A statement disclosed that the mentorship sessions would span diverse disciplines such as engineering, product management, operations, marketing, finance, and human resources. The firm explained that the scheme was designed to nurture emerging talent and enhance capabilities within the continent’s tech sector. Scheduled to run from March to June 2024, participants will immerse themselves in comprehensive training, gaining insights into industry