According to the latest AFRICASCOPE 2021/2022 results recently published by KANTAR on internet usage in the 8 French-speaking sub-Saharan African countries studied, internet usage continues to grow. 16% of the African population is on TIKTOK – Worrying?

Tiktok in Africa: figures

Regular internet users (at least once a week) now exceed 50% of the population (50.2% on average in the 8 countries). They represent almost ¾ of the Senegalese population (72.3%) while they are below 50% in the other countries studied, with the exception of Mali (54.6%) and Côte d’Ivoire (54.7%) which are above 50%.

The internet user watch indicator is even more revealing of the penetration of the internet in the country (in this case in the capital of a country given the method of collection of the AFricascope study) and shows the lead taken by Senegal both in terms of % of the population having visited the internet the previous day (internet user watch) and of the DEI (duration of visit per individual (DEI).

SENEGAL : 67.9% 02:06

MALI 51.5% 00:54

COTE D’IVOIRE 47.0% 01:33

DRC 39.7% 01:25

GABON: 39.1% 01:26

BURKUNA-FASO: 38.7% 00:52

CAMEROON: 37.4% 01:33

CONGO: 28.6% 00:52

Average 8 countries 43.6% 01:26

Furthermore, as we had already reported in 2021, WhatsApp is overtaking Facebook in all countries except DRC where Facebook is resisting and remains at a slightly higher level than Whatsapp.

Now 69.9% of respondents have a WhatsApp account against 65.2% who have a Facebook account.

Behind these 2 leaders, TikTok appears for the first time in the study: 16% of respondents have a TikTok account on average in the 8 countries. This figure rises to 30.5% in Senegal and 28.2% in Côte d’Ivoire.

Instagram retains its 3rd place with 26% on average over the 8 countries.

16% of the African population is on TIKTOK – Worrying?

TikTok: Should Africa also be concerned?

There seems to be a sense of panic in some quarters about TikTok.

Western governments are starting to take action, especially regarding data security, but there has been little official comment in Africa so far.

The app’s hypnotic format has taken the world by storm – and this continent is no different.

The endless scrolling, the quick nuggets of information, the algorithm that seems to know what you want to see better than you do, serve to draw the user in. Before long, seconds turn into minutes, which can then turn into hours.

A TikTok-induced headache might then follow, in which things are only understandable as long as they are presented as a meme.

But resisting this onslaught could be futile, and we on the mainland should pay attention.

The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022 showed that Africa was a priority market for TikTok, with more and more young people using it to get the latest news.

The social media app, owned by China’s ByteDance, now offers support and a platform for creators across Africa who are beginning to find a voice that has been excluded elsewhere.

They are challenging the most common narratives on the continent and presenting the world with a different view.

Tiktok reassures, African governments in silence

However, concerns have been raised in many parts of the world about its security features.

TikTok has recently been in the crosshairs, including from U.S. lawmakers who questioned CEO Shou Zi Chew for more than four hours in what was described as a “congressional showdown.”

The focus was on suspicions that user data collected by the app could be accessed by the Chinese government.

16% of the African population is on TIKTOK – Worrying?

Concerns about TikTok are not exclusive to the U.S. – several countries now ban the app’s use with other social media platforms on government employees’ phones due to inadequate data security measures.

But there has been silence from African governments. No country on the continent has yet taken action against TikTok.

Speaking to some experts here in Kenya, there is a feeling that while data security is an issue, TikTok should not be the only focus.

Kennedy Kachwanya, president of the Bloggers Association of Kenya (Bake), reminds us of the accusations that the British company Cambridge Analytica harvested user data in Kenya to help manipulate the outcome of the 2013 and 2017 elections.

The company, which has now shut down, said in 2018 that it was employed as a marketing agency and simply used social media to help its client win.

“The issue of Cambridge Analytica has been much discussed in the U.S. and the U.K., but what they did in Kenya, for example, during the 2013 elections, has barely been mentioned,” Kachwanya said.

“I have a feeling that Kenya and Nigeria were testing grounds for them before their extensive use in the U.S. and U.K.”

For him, the allegations about what Cambridge Analytica could do indicated how users’ information could be used by third parties, either for commercial purposes, to interfere with the democratic process or to assist in state surveillance.

There are also allegations that the anti-TikTok headlines reflect fears that its rivals are losing market share.

James Wamathai, also of Bake, believes that the targeting of Tiktok is fueled by American hysteria and propaganda.

The digital strategist says “U.S. companies are collecting a lot more data” and argues that they are frustrated because they seem “unable to compete with TikTok.”

African civil society gets organized

16% of the African population is on TIKTOK – Worrying?

This week, a Senegalese advocacy group known as Restic also called on the regulator to help control what young people can see.

“Unfortunately, the content on TikTok is very violent and some of the features in that context are not allowed by our traditions here in Africa,” Moustapha Diakhate of Resitc told the BBC’s Focus on Africa.

“We really want to see how we protect our children who interact with these social media.”

Everyone I spoke to felt that data security and online safety should be a primary consideration, regardless of where the parent company of the social media app in question is located.

They challenge African governments to demand the same safeguards from technology companies as their Western counterparts.

Data freely provided by users can be used for innocent marketing purposes. But in the wrong hands, whether an authoritarian state or a foreign power, the information could be used for something more nefarious.