by Tatiana Repkova

Radio is the dominant mass media channel across Africa, according to the African Media Development Initiative that surveyed the media in 17 sub-Saharan African countries. The biggest growth area, however, are mobile phones with 10 of the countries reporting annual compound growth rates of more than 85 percent.

Television remains less accessible and only 50 percent of the population in seven countries that provided national figures said more than 50 percent of the population watched television at least once a week. Internet usage is also low, with only about 2 percent of the population in 10 of the countries able to go online. Only South Africa and Zimbabwe have more than 5 percent of their population accessing the web.