This is How Africa Tweeted in 2015 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A screenshot of a graph showing how Africa tweets.
Portland, a London-based communications agency, has analysed 1.6 billion geo-located tweets and the top 5,000 hashtags on the continent for the third “How Africa Tweets” report.
The report consists of 12 case studies touching on how Twitter relates to topics such as terrorism in Africa, the Ebola response, and economic development on the continent.
The company used the social media analysis tool Sysomos to collect and analyse the 5,000 top hashtags. However, it was unable to collect information on South Sudan and the Republic of Congo due to lack of data on social media.
“Our previous studies showed that Twitter in Africa was much more of a space for social interaction or frivolous banter. This study, our third, demonstrates that the platform is coming of age with the prevalence of serious debate about politics and government,” Mark Flanagan, Portland’s Senior Partner for Content and Digital Strategy is quoted in a press statement.
Key findings:
Some tweeps have been sharing key findings on Twitter using the hashtag #HowAfricaTweets.
First cases of #Ebola were being discussed on social media before any official announcement was made by WHO or others.” #HowAfricaTweets
— Rosebell Kagumire (@RosebellK) April 7, 2016
Africans were especially vocal on a handful of international events on Twitter incl Islamic State, #BlackLivesMatter – #HowAfricaTweets
— Rosebell Kagumire (@RosebellK) April 7, 2016
“Gabon is a French-speaking country in central Africa, but three of its top ten tweets had to do with events in Nigeria” #HowAfricaTweets
— Djelissah (@Melsse) April 7, 2016
#howafricatweets
Top five hashtags from Uganda
1. #Uganda
2. #UgandaDecides
3. #News
4. #Latest
5. #MUFC
— Pru Nyamishana (@nyapru1) April 6, 2016
The small island of Comoros had the highest level of Tweets Per Capita of 0.77 across the continent. #howafricatweets
— Grace Natabaalo (@Natabaalo) April 6, 2016
The report has generally received positive response. However, Mwesigwa Daniel, a True Africa contributor, tweeted:
The #HowAfricaTweets report is another a piece of cheap popularity. So much left out.
— Mwesigwa Daniel (@valanchee) April 7, 2016
Responding to Reed Kramer tweet, Demba Kandeh, a Global Voices author, observed:
@reedkramer @PortlandComms @twitter interesting findings; sounds like comparing apples n oranges, #AfricaIsNotACountry #HowAfricaTweets
— Demba Kandeh (@saadems) April 7, 2016