Earlier today the Kenya ICT Board and TNS Research International launched the Kenya Digital Study Report. The report details how Kenyans ‘consume’ the internet and is part of a global series of studies funded by TNS Research International which explore how digital services are changing the lives and demands of consumers. Ultimately, the report will lead to new ways of providing services and marketing in Kenya via the Internet and other digital channels.

The report was based on 1,669 responses that we’re conducted online between the months of December 2009 and February 2010. The bulk of the responses came from Nairobi at 77% and 5% from rural Kenya. This means that the responses are heavily skewed to what the Nairobi internet user would do online which may not be the case in other cities and towns in Kenya. However, its is a good start in getting know what Kenyans do on the Internet and what their thoughts are about the Internet. Some of the key finings from the report which will be published soon and in full on the Kenya ICT Board web site are as follows:

• In the responses received, Kenya ranked higher than many countries on a scale of one to ten in terms of the importance that users attached to the Internet at an average score of eight.
• 56% access the Internet primarily in the workplace whilst at 58% use their mobile phones as their secondary form of Internet access.
• 62% of users go online more than 5 times a day and over 65% spend more than one hour online each time they connect to the Internet.  However, 77% want to spend more time online than they currently do.
• 43% spend an average of Kes. 101.00 to Kes. 500.00 for Internet access. However, 42% said that the cost of Internet access is too high and 40% said that slow Internet speeds are a problem whilst 29% felt that lack of enough time was a major factor to their being online more frequently.
• The bulk of activity online for users is for business, work and job searches at 82%. However, 63% of time spent online is for academic and education-related content and 51% of time is spent on leisure related activities.
• 57% of Internet users went online primary to access knowledge and information whilst 50% we’re online for communications and social networking purposes.
• 100% of users use email and 95% use search engines. 91% went online to look for news and 89% did so for online chats and communications.
• 85% of Kenyan Internet users go online for social networking and in the same context 37% of them do so to stay in touch with people they normally wouldn’t be able to keep in touch with. 96% of users on social networks are members of Facebook. 26% of those users who are on social networks have more than 250 contacts on their preferred social network. 56% of Kenyans on social networks joined a brand fan page.
• 78% researched a product or service online whilst 51% not only researched but also bought a product directly online. When doing online research, 81% started off using a search engine whilst 63% did so to know more about a product online. 88% would like to buy products and services online and pay using mobile money. 23% felt that the cost of delivering products and services to Kenya that we’re purchased online was high.
• 51% would like to use the Internet to pay for bills and 39% would like to access Internet banking if it was available to them. 91% had seen online ads and 44% believed a product or service review if it had been reviewed by someone who had actually used it. In terms of downloading content from the Internet, 35% wanted to download eBooks whilst 19% wanted academic papers, 13% music and 12% movies and videos.
• When looking for products and services online 88% looked for detailed specifications, 72% compared prices so as to get the best offer and 63% did comparisons between different products. 27% said that the major deterrent to Internet banking for them was the risk of fraud.
• 89% felt that there are too few Kenyan web sites whilst 71% visited largely foreign web sites. Only 29% of time online was spent on Kenyan web sites. In terms of local web sites, 31% of would like to see educational web sites, 17% business web sites and 16% educational web sites.
• The most popular Government of Kenya web is the Kenya Revenue Authority at 26% followed the Public Service Commission at 11% and the Kenya National Examination Council at 7%. 88% have visited a Government of Kenya web site and 27% found them to be very useful. 69% used Government of Kenya web sites for status updates and applications whilst 65% used them for income tax returns and 56% for legal information and provisions.
• 32% that the Government of Kenya needed to increase Internet connectivity in rural parts of the country whilst 27% felt that more Government services needed to be digitized. 21% felt that the Government needed to regulate the cost of Internet access 15% thought that the Government should provide education on how to better use the Internet and its benefits.