Internet usage in Africa is on the upward trends as social media adoption also grows. We have been following African (selected) countries on Facebook for about a year now, tracking the changes in user base. Our last review was in November, you can read that here.

Nigerians on Facebook hits 1 million, though later than we predicted it still shows that more Nigerian are login on to Facebook and millions are yet to join the train. Our last review, Nigerians on Facebook was 901,840 and now added about 127,460 under 3 months to stand at 1,029,300. A break down below;

Total: 1,029,300
Male: 654,240
Female: 342,740
18 year and above: 948,560
25 years and Above: 589,120 Male: 396,540 Female: 177,820

With the above data, Facebook penetration amongst Nigerians online stands at 9.4% showing a big room for growth over the coming months. As witness in other countries, Facebook usage has reached the mainstream, with more 30% of some countries internet population present on Facebook. About 92.1% of Nigerians on Facebook are older than 18 years as again 96% in November while 57.2% are older than 25 years, a change of 0.2% from November’s users. The younger (below 18years) are also showing progress. Facebook in Nigeria is good for business looking at the number of mature population of the users.

Around Africa

Egypt has overtaken South Africa as the largest country with Facebook users in Africa, though Facebook penetration in Egypt is much lower than south Africa, it show that there is room for more growth. For now, South Africa’s Facebook users seem to have reach climax as the growth rate is almost flattened. With the table above, Tunisia has the highest penetration up 11% from last November of 45%, given the number of internet users in Tunisia, the growth might not last for too long before it stops. Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria are the top countries in terms of Internet users and as such, we should expect growth from these countries. Morocco has just 12.4% of its internet population on Facebook while Nigeria with 9.4%. Ghana also shows a good Facebook penetration but insignificant as its internet users are still hinging below 1 million mark.

News users

The northern Africans are leading the new users sign up, with Egypt atop new users with 415,360 or 19% added, Tunisia 26%, Morocco 21% and Nigeria 14%. Facebook growth South Africa is flattening haven reached more than 50% of its internet population.

Overall, there is a massive hype around Facebook in Africa, as local social networking sites have not been able to capture the interest of their internet users.