5 top African searches in 2016

Nigeria has the highest amount of internet users on the continent, with over 92 million, Egypt is second with over 48 million internet users while the Kenyan population that has access to the internet amounts to over 29 million users.

With a large amount of Africans having access to the internet, and therefore being able to access news and information, here’s a look at the top 6 Google searches in Africa in 2016.

1. Euro 2016

The African continent was glued for a month during the European Championships as millions searched for the fixtures, results and performances of their respective favoured teams.

With 24 teams competing across 10 host cities and 2.4 million spectators attending an unprecedented total of 51 matches, UEFA EURO 2016 was officially the biggest UEFA European Championship ever.

Almost 300 million visits and 1.5 billion page impressions were generated by the official EURO2016.com website and mobile apps between the eve of the tournament on 9 June and the day after the final on 11 July – almost four times the levels reached during UEFA EURO 2012.

UEFA EURO 2016 also proved hugely engaging on social media, with UEFA-produced content seen by over 3 billion across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

More than 15 million fans followed the competition’s official channels, driving over 70 million interactions.

On Facebook, 195 million users triggered 950 million interactions to make the tournament the biggest sporting event of the year on the platform.

Over 45 million joined the conversation as Portugal beat France in the final, resulting in a record 146 million reactions, shares and comments. The tournament was won by Portugal after defeating hosts France in a thrilling final.

2. Olympic Games Rio 2016

The Olympics which was held in Rio in Brazil over the summer was another sporting event that dominated the most searches in Google by Africans.

African teams defied all expectations at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, winning a total of 45 medals, making it the continent’s most successful Olympics.

The 11 winning countries overcame obstacles that hindered their progress from the beginning, which saw some countries almost getting banned from the Games altogether.

Kenya (ranked 15th globally) continued with its stellar performance at the games and once again topped the African table after clinching a total of 13 medals (six gold, six silver and 1 bronze), making it the East African nation’s best performance in history.

South Africa came in second with10 medals: two gold, six silver and two bronze while Ethiopia was ranked third with eight medals.

Nigeria was ranked 78 globally after clinching only one bronze medal.

3. Donald Trump

Africans, like the rest of the world, watched keenly the US elections in November.

In one of the most shocking U.S. elections in modern political history, Donald Trump defeated Hillary Clinton and topped the continent’s google searches list.

The controversial business mogul overcame all odds to first clinch the Republican ticket defeating several well-established politicians before eventually crushing the experienced former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The outcome of the historic elections sent shockwaves around the globe considering the fact that Clinton was hugely favoured to win as was projected by the media and pollsters.

However, Trump won the presidency despite losing the popular vote by over three million votes.

He, however, garnered 306 Electoral College votes which decide the presidency as compared to Clinton’s 232.

A total of 270 Electoral College votes is needed to clinch the US presidency.

4. Papa Wemba

Africans also searched for the popular Congolese singer and musician who died at the age of 66 after collapsing on stage in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, during the FEMUA urban music festival on Sunday, 24 April 2016.

Wemba played Congolese rumba,soukous and ndombolo.

Dubbed the "King of Rumba Rock", he was one of the most popular musicians of his time in Africa and played an important role in world music.

He was also a fashion icon who popularised the La Sape look and style through his musical group Viva la Musica with whom he performed on stages throughout the world.

In Wemba's hometown of Kinshasa, both fellow musicians and fans gathered together as a tribute to his legacy. Similar tributes also took place in Paris, London, Brussels and Nairobi.

5. MTV Africa Music Awards (MAMA)

In the entertainment scene, Africans also searched and keenly followed the MTV Africa Music Awards popularly known as the MAMAs to find out if their favourite musicians won the various categories they were nominated in.

The award ceremony which was held in October is the definitive annual celebration of African and international talent and achievement.

It recognises and rewards musicians and achievers who have made the most impact on African music and youth culture.

Among the winners at the awards included:

Wiz Kid (Nigeria) - Best Male Artist

Yemi Alade (Nigeria) - Best Female Artist

Sauti Sol (Kenya) – Best Group

Patoranking ft Wande Coal (Nigeria) – Song of the year "My Woman, My Everything