Radio dominates in Ghana

15 March 2010

Ghanaian radio continues to dominate the communications medium despite the steady rise of mobile phones, according to new research from InterMedia.

The Africa Development Research Series: Ghana highlights the fact that radio continues to be the most widely used information source, followed by TV. However, the reach of TV is concentrated in more urban areas.  

The reach of newspapers lags behind that of radio and TV, with only a fifth of those surveyed saying that they have read a paper in the last week.  Those that read newspapers are typically young, educated men in urban areas (particularly the capital, Accra) with relatively higher incomes.

While mobile phone use is widespread, it varies in intensities: three-quarters of respondents said they had used a mobile phone in the last week; 88% had used a phone in the last year. Of the 12% that did not use a mobile phone, the most common barriers to using a phone were – not owning one (77%), not having access to one (31%), the high cost of handsets (26%) and the high cost of calling credits (13%).

Most said that they had not owned a mobile for more than five years, demonstrating how new the technology is to most Ghanaian adults. Overwhelmingly, phones are being used to access traditional mediums, such as using the internet to access a newspaper’s website or listen to radio stations.

Martina Lacey, London