Digital Kenya

A study to understand
the on-line life of Kenyans
Key findings
5th March 2010
For further information regarding this project please contact:

Melissa Baker – Melissa.Baker@research-int.com

+254 722 522657

1
Contents of the presentation

• Why Digital Kenya now?

• Internet in our lives
• Social life & engagement
• Marketing
• Knowledge
• Government of Kenya services

A study partnership between TNS Research International

and the ICT Board of Kenya
So why Digital Kenya?

• To help organizations understanding of how people in Kenya use the

internet

• To provide new analysis of the consumer and what motivates them

to behave in particular ways when they are on-line

• To understand the needs of users of the digital space in Kenya so as

to harness opportunities and drive innovation of services for the
future
 6 key themes of our study

GOK &
Social social
life & services
engage
The internet -ment Knowledge
in our lives Buying
& selling Marketing

Basic facts and figures

User typology
 Method

1,669 responses
Weighted to match Kenya user
On-line survey profiles

20 in-depth interviews

In depth interviews To profile needs and understand

information from survey in depth

Fieldwork:
December - February
Timing

5
The people who took part in the study

Mainly Nairobi (77%),

only 5% rural 25-34 (55%), 35-44 (27%)

Nearly all degree or

diploma holders
70% employed, 16%
self-employed
53% work with a
commercial company, rest
with GOK / NGO.
Majority male
Items respondents own

A Colour TV 88
A Satellite dish/ DSTV/Cable TV subscription 31
A Microwave oven 52
A video/DVD recorder /camcorder 64
A mobile / cell phone with a working line 82
A mobile / cell phone with internet access 77
A personal computer for your own personal use at home 59
A personal computer with internet connection 51
A fixed telephone line at home or an outstanding application for one 13
A washing machine 14
A refrigerator 65
A Hi-Fi or music centre 53
1. The Internet In Our Lives
If you were ship-wrecked on a desert island
and could rescue one thing, what would it
be?

PC connected to the 20
Internet 63

40
A Mobile phone
23

Satellite TV with
18
Kenyan and
5
Internet connection
internation
main priority…
7 2nd priority
A range of books
4 1st priority

An MP3 full of your 2

favorite music 2

DVD movies with

3
home cinema
screen 1

3
A digital camera
The web is very important to Kenyan users,
outstripping its importance in other
countries
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How much would not having the internet affect your daily routine and
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TNS multi-country study

Office is facilitating internet access
currently

42%
42% not
not entirely
entirely happy
happy
100 Where accesses internet
with
with the
the convenience
convenience of
of
90 most often
their
their connectivity
connectivity
80
70
60 56
50
40
30
20 12 12
9 10
10
0
0
fé er ce e o t m
ca pu
t a on Sp e
er m k pl p h t od
b co or ile Ho M
Cy a / w ob i ith
m i-F w
fro
m
ff ice y W to
p
e O M a p
om L
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Mobile phone is now the main back-up source
of access

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58
60 Other places they use to
access internet
50

40 36
33
30 26

20 18
12
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r e t
fé te ce on o m
ca p u
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ph Sp od
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There is high demand for more phone
browsing

50% prefer to use

their phone to
browse

Small screen is the

main barrier, & low
content
Kenyans go on-line frequently, and
demand is high for more…

No of times those on line Duration of last connection

connect each day

62% 65%

17%
2-5 5+ 1 hour +
 Among these digital respondents, internet is
more frequently used than conventional
media

Radio
18
Internet
5+ times a day 14
62
TV
22
2 - 4 times a day 77%17want
20
to spend
more time on
36
the
1 time a day 14 internet
51

25
Less often / never 6
15

• Base: 1669 internet users

 Expensive
Cost and speed main barriers to greater use
42

Slow speed 40

Not enough time 29

Don’t have own internet-connected comp 19

Crowding in internet cafes 11

Concerned about privacy 10

Cost, speed, lack of
time and lack of
Cant see it clearly on my phone 9
internet-connected
It’s a time waster 8
computer main
barriers
Travel far to access 7

No internet on my phone 7 Base: 1305 internet

users who would
Not Kenyan enough 7 like to spend more
time online
1 11 21 31 41
Learning

• Kenyan users become highly devoted to the internet

• High demand for more access
• Cost and speed still hindrances
• Towards mobile phone based browsing as opposed to
cyber café
• Demand for better screens and mobile phone content
2. Needs served by the internet
Work is main sphere of motivation

Sphere of life that motivates internet use

Business/ work/ job search 82

Academic / education related 63

Leisure related activities 51

• Base: 1669 internet users

Information beats communication

Most important need served

Accessing reliable knowledge /

57
information

Communicating with others (email /

39
social networking/ chatting/ VOIP)

Buying products and services 2 Most important

Getting entertained

Accessing view points

• Base: 1669 internet users

Information beats communication

Second-Most important need served

Accessing reliable knowledge /

34
information

Communicating with others (email /

50
social networking/ chatting/ VOIP)

Buying products and services 4 2nd most important

Getting entertained 5 Growth areas

Accessing view points 5

• Base: 1669 internet users

Top Ten Activities Done on Line

KENYA GLOBAL

Sent
Sent or
or received
received email
email (100%)
(100%)
Used aa search
Used search engine
engine (81%)
(81%)
Used aa search
Used search engine
engine like
like Google
Google Looked
Looked up up the
the news
news (76%)
(76%)
(95%)
(95%) On-line
On-line banking
banking (74%)
(74%)
Looked
Looked up the news
up the news (93%)
(93%) Looked
Looked upup the
the weather
weather (65%)
(65%)
Visited
Visited aa specific
specific website
website toto get
get Researched
Researched aa product
product or or service
service before
before
information
information (90%)(90%) buying
buying itit (63%)
(63%)
Read
Read newspapers
newspapers (90%) (90%) Visited
Visited aa brand
brand oror product
product website
website
Participate
Participate inin messenger
messenger // chats
chats (89%)
(89%) (61%)
(61%)
Read
Read something
something in in Wikipedia
Wikipedia (87%)
(87%) Paid
Paid bills
bills (56%)
(56%)
Visited
Visited aa social
social networking
networking sitesite (85%)
(85%) Watched
Watched aa video
video clip
clip (51%)
(51%)
Searched
Searched for for information
information on on disease
disease Used
Used aa price
price comparison
comparison site site (50%)
(50%)
(85%)
(85%) Listened
Listened toto an
an audio
audio clip
clip (44%)
(44%)
Looked
Looked forfor aa job
job (81%)
(81%)

KNOWLEDGE SEEKING AND MORE TRANSACTIONAL,

SOCIALIZATION MARKETING AND MEDIA
RELATED ACTIVITIES
Towards a needs based typology of Kenyan
internet users

Internal
Others K Self

K
External
Trends

• Internet motivated mainly by work related activities (as

opposed to leisure)
• Internet use is currently dominated by knowledge
seeking behaviour and communication,
entertainment/media, leisure and commerce are
opportunity areas

On-line banking relatively under-developed
• Many Kenyans search for information on health and
diseases on the internet
3. Social life and engagement
The web is widely used for social activities

Messenger chats 89

Visit social networking 85

site e.g Facebook
Upload/download
72
photos

Become a member of an
65
on-line group

Visit a blog 58

Post comments on
48
other people's blogs

Meet someone new via

47
the internet
Make or receive an
47
internet phone call

Visit dating sites 36

Play online games 33

Drivers to social networking

Social networks enable me

to keep in contact with
37
people I woudn't normally
be in contact with

It is a cheaper way to keep

25
in touch with many people

It is more interactive than

22
using my personal email

Base: 1421 internet users who have visited a social networking site
 Social networking

Facebook 96

96% of social
Hi5 38
networkers are
Twitter 37 on Facebook
Linkedin 30
Social network sites are very “sticky”
YouTube 30
5+ times a day 25

Tagged 23 2 - 4 times a day 19

Yahoo 360 20 1 time a day 33

50% have more

MySpace 20 Less often / never 23
than 100
Others (write
in)
10 contacts on their
favourite site
• Base: 1421 internet users who have visited a
social networking site
• Base: 1421 internet users who have visited a social networking site

How many contacts do you

have in your favourite Those who visit
online social networking online social
site? networking sites
Base 1421
Less than 10 7
11 to 20 9
21 to 40 10
41 to 60 7
61 to 100 13
101 to 250 23
More than 250 26
Don't know 4
 69% up-loaded
photos / videos 56% Joined
56% contributed
brand fan group
to a discussion

48% met in
person with an 40% clicked on
old friend an ad

12% met &

24% met
dated someone
someone face to
face first met
online
6% got a job

• Base: 1421 internet users who have

visited a social networking site
 Uploaded photos or videos 69

Posted com m ents / testim onials / review s 64

Write inform ation in m y profile 62

Contributed to topics of discussions 56

Joined a fan group of a brand 56

Joined school / university group 49

Met up in person w ith an old friend 48

Answ ered a poll 45

Clicked on advertisem ent 40

Cancelled a friendship/ rem oved som eone 37

t face to face w ith som eone that I originally m et online 24

Looked up ex-partners profiles 24

Met and eventually dated a person 12

• Base: 1421 internet users who have
Posted an advert for m y products / services 12 visited a social networking site

Got a job w hich I applied for 6

Who are members of the social network?

Who are in your network on

66% link with
your favourite site?
1421
family and friends
Work colleagues 52 abroad
Business contacts in the country 27
Business contacts outside the country 21
Friends/family living in the country 76
Friends/family living outside the country 66 40% keep in touch
Online contacts who I have not met in
person 40 with people they
have never met in
person
• Base: 1421 internet
users who have visited
a social networking site
• Keeping in contact, cost effectiveness and the level of interaction key
drivers behind social networking

• Not widely used for business or job

• Dating and games not as widely used as other forms of interaction

• Way in which people interact internationally

4. Marketing
On-line consumers do much of their
research on-line these days

Researched online for or about

78%
product or service (98%)

51% Researched on-line but bought

direct
63% Know product in advance

81% Start with search engine (70%)

29% Ever bought online (94%)

Comparisons are with on-line consumer study in
Australia, China, India, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore. 6,000 interviews. Q4 2008
Payment

20% have
bought on-
line using a
card

11% ordered
on line but
paid direct to
provider
Lack of local delivery service and secure
on-line payment main problem

Delivery to Kenya is very expensive 23

88% would
Lack of means of online payment 21
like to buy
It is not secure to buy products/service 21
There are no local online providers of products or services
on-line and 16
Products / services cannot be delivered 16
pay using
Manufacturers / service providers that I like don’t sell online 9
mobile
It is expensive to buy products/service 5
Cannot find what I am lookingmoney
for 3
I cannot get variety to choosetransfer
from online 3
Online services a. Ever b. Would like
used to use
% %
Payment of bills 16 51
Online Banking 19 39
On line courses 28 33
Purchase of computers (laptop desktop) 14 31
Purchase of mobile gadgets (mobile phone PDA MP3) 11 31
Purchase of tickets for cinema / theatre / concerts 4 31
Purchase of home appliances 3 32
Paying for Music / Movie downloads 18 28
Purchase of books 24 28
Booking of Hotels / Restaurants 23 26
Automotive purchases (cars motorcycles) 10 22
Purchase of airline tickets 31 23
Software downloads 30 23
Audio visual (TV radio Hi Fi etc.) 3 21
Cosmetics: skin care/ hair care products 6 16
Dating sites 13 4
Online services Would like to
use
%
Payment of bills 51
Online Banking 39
On line courses 33
Purchase of computers (laptop desktop) 31
Purchase of mobile gadgets (mobile phone PDA MP3) 31
Purchase of tickets for cinema / theatre / concerts 31
Purchase of home appliances 32
Paying for Music / Movie downloads 28
Purchase of books 28
Booking of Hotels / Restaurants 26
Automotive purchases (cars motorcycles) 22
Purchase of airline tickets 23
Software downloads 23
Audio visual (TV radio Hi Fi etc.) 21
Cosmetics: skin care/ hair care products 16
Dating sites 4
Advertising

92% seen an ad
on-line

45% of these,
influenced to
buy

• Base: 1669 internet users

Ways of becoming aware of an
internet site that you have visited?

From search engines like Google 90

From advertisements in other

29
media
Through online invites from
22
friends
From adverts / sponsored links
18
on search

Through email adverts/links 17

By word of mouth 10

From Pop ups within a website

5
when doing

From literature e.g. book epilogue 3

From product packaging 1

• Base: 1669 internet users

Most believable product / service
reviews?

Reviews by people
who have used it 44%
Manufacturer’s site 30%
Dedicated site
for product review 11%
Blogs 4%
Information in
advertisements 3%
When it comes to product / service reviews
on the internet, which one source is most
believable?

• Base: 514 internet users who have visited a social networking site

Email links sent to you by sites and 4

manufacturers 1

Proposals by sellers on specific products

and services tailored to your interests 2

4
Information in advertisements 3

12
2nd most important
Blogs (in general) 4 Most important

Dedicated websites for product reviews 25

(e.g. Cheap Flight, CNET, TripAdvisor, etc) 16

Reviews by people who have used the 26

service or product 44

Manufacturer's / Service provider's 23

website 30
Nokia
Safaricom
HP Compaq
Dell
Samsung
Sony Top 20 sites
Kenya Airways
Toyota
Apple
Microsoft
Nation Media Group
Hewlett Packard
Sony Ericsson
Google
Zain
Toshiba
LG
East African Breweries Limited (EABL)
Amazon
• Base: 1466 Internet users who visited the
Orange/Telkom official website of a manufacturer or provider
How to make your site interesting:
Which one of the following are you
most interested I down-loading from
the internet?
e-Books 35

Academic
19
papers

Music 13

Movies/videos 12

Photos 3

Ring-tones 3

Games 2

Wallpaper 1

• Base: 1669 internet users

What are they looking for when
researching products?

Detail of product / service specification 88

Comparison of prices so as to get the best price 72

A comparison between different products 63

Consumer / user reviews 57

Professional reviews (reviews done by

53
professional reviewers)
Which products and brands exist in each product /
48
service category
Places/addresses to buy the products/services
42
offline
Websites to buy or subscribe to the products/
33
services online
Barriers to internet banking

39% would like to do internet banking

Scared of fraud (27%)

My bank does not offer it (20%)
Never considered it (15%)
Not relevant to me (14%)
Like to deal with a real person (7%)
The bank has many restrictions (7%)
Don’t know how to set it up (5%)
Cant be bothered with it (3%)
Learning

• Marketeers need to embrace the internet --- widely used currently for
researching products

• Improve payment options

• Develop local delivery options

• Monitor with what others are saying about your products

5. Knowledge
Information seeking behaviour on the
,Use search engines like Google
95
internet
Yahoo

Visit news websites 93

Visit a specific website to get
information 90

Read newspapers online 90

Read something in Wikipedia 87

Search for information on health
or disease 85
Search for government related
information 79
Research on the internet for or
about product or service 78
Search for Kenyan local
information 70

Read magazines online 69

Visit / use on-line education
modules 65

Watch TV in general online 28

Write your own blog 21

Which have ever accessed /would
like to access information on?
Base: 1669 internet users
Information areas Ever Would
accessed like to
access
Education & (%) (%)
Educational material health key areas 76 61
Online courses 55 54
Information on training institutions 63 51
Diagnosis of a disease from symptoms that you or others you know
are suffering 60% don’t 54 47
always
General background or information trust the
on a disease 52 45
Tourism information on 45 41
Information on what drugs to take for a particular disease 34 40
the internet
Checking up on the diagnosis that you have been given by a health
care professional 33 38
Price of healthcare products
39% often don’t 14 38
HIV / AIDS find the 40 38
information
Reproductive health - (pregnancy and childbirth) they 40 36
Agricultural information 20 27
are looking for
Weather 26 24
Are there enough Kenyan sites?

29% Kenyan sites

Online time
spent on…
71% Foreign sites

89%
Too few Kenyan sites
Top 10 suggested Kenyan sites

Educational Information /
e learning 38
Business related / e
commerce 28
Entertainment 16
Social networking 10
Job Adverts 10
Training Research 8
News 8
Culture 7
Learning

• Opportunity for Kenyan content

• Especially e-learning and education

• Business and commerce

• Entertainment
6. GOK
Top 10 GOK sites

Kenya Revenue88% have

Authority 26
visited
Public service a GOK or
commission 11
parastatal
Kenya National site Council
Examination 7
Higher Education Loans Board 6
Central bank of Kenya 6
Department of immigration Kenya 5
27% found site
Kenya wildlifevery
service website
useful 4
The Kenya ICT Board Site 4
www.information.go.ke 4
e-Government 2
Information needs from GOK
Status of ID / Passport application 69
Submission of income tax returns 65
Legal information/legal regulations/ provisions 56
Development projects being funded (e.g. CDF) / how money is spent / budgetary information 54
Exam results and candidate selection 54
Public service and Para-statal jobs 52
Report corruption cases 50
Constitution review process and copies of drafts 49
Government performance contracts (what each Government Body is supposed to do) 47
Population information (following the recent population census) 46
Health information 45
Customs and excise services 43
HELB loan repayment status 43
Disease outbreaks 42
Parliamentary proceedings 36
Roads construction projects (program for construction) 34
How and where to access agricultural information 29
Finally, some suggestions to GOK on how to
enhance internet access...

Increase internet connection in rural areas 32

Digitize more of the government services 27
Regulate the costs 21
Provide education on how to use the internet and its
benefits 15
Policy making on Internet usage 3
Other 2