Facebook is the most popular social network in Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria, with WhatsApp growing fast, according to new research.

The study, from Global Web Index, looks at the social media activities of digital consumers in these African markets and, in particular, the dominance of Facebook platforms.

The report found that social networkers in these countries display a slightly different attitude to their social media portfolio than many other internet users around the world – using fewer platforms, for longer and in a more active/engaged way.

This runs counter to the passive networking trend that we have seen elsewhere, where social networkers are becoming more selective about where they share their personal content and more likely to browse content on social platforms, rather than contribute.

Facebook has been the main benefactor of this engagement and is in a clear prime position within the social media industry in these countries.

Facebook itself and WhatsApp form the core of digital consumers’ social media portfolios, with usage of these apps almost universal. Most of Facebook’s competitors, most notably YouTube and Twitter, post much lower figures in this market than we usually see around the world. Only about half of internet users here are visiting/using YouTube, whereas this platform can boast more visitors than Facebook in most markets.