The Top Things Africans Googled in 2019

Pop culture, sports and politics captured Africa's attention in 2019, with Google searches in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa dominated by questions about how to create an email account or website and supplemented by bizarre requests such as a question about why cornflakes were invented.

Google has released the results of its 2019 Year in Search, providing a unique insight into the year's major moments and top trends based on searches conducted in countries around the world including SA, Nigeria and Kenya.

Search trends information is gleaned from data collated by Google based on what people have been searching for and asking Google this year. Google processes more than 40,000 search queries every second. This translates to more than 1 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide.

Google's 2019 Year in Search

South Africa
This year's trending searches show South Africans' keen interest in the world and people around them. Nine of the ten top trending search terms were for local people, news and events and the majority of top questions were also related to local happenings.

South Africa's team won the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and citizens went to the polls, so it's no wonder that the World Cup and election were among the top searched items of the year. But the top trending search of 2019 - and also of the decade - was load-shedding, the much-hated, forced electricity cuts by national power utility Eskom. (See Rolling blackouts hurting SA operators & customers.)

South Africans were obsessed with the question: "Why were cornflakes invented?" - and the answer will surprise you - followed by "what time is the rugby world cup final?" and "how many votes for a seat in parliament?"

2019 also saw some notable deaths, including former rugby stars James Small and Chester Williams as well as gospel singer Neyi Zimu who were among the most searched local personalities of the year. Beloved radio broadcaster Xolani Gwala lost his long battle with cancer in November and was the second most searched South African of the year, while the late music legend Johnny Clegg was the most searched musician of the year.

Meanwhile rugby player Faf De Klerk captured the world's attention due to the memorable South African flag speedos in which he was photographed following the country's Rugby World Cup victory. This earned De Klerk eighth place on the personalities list while SA rugby captain Siya Kolisi was the sixth most searched person and the World Cup itself was the top trending sports search.

SA Top Ten Trending Searches

SA Top Trending Questions

Top Trending South African Personalities

SA Top Trending Searches of the Decade

Kenya
Former Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore was the top searched person in Kenya in 2019 after he lost his battle with cancer in July. Kenyan long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge made history in October when he became the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon, earning him the second place spot on the trending local personalities list followed by musician John Demathew, who died in a car crash in August. (See Bob Collymore Loses His Battle With Cancer.)

Kenyans were interested in practical items in 2019 with the top searched "how to" of the year being the tax-related "how to file returns using P9 form"; the second most searched item was "how to apply for a passport" followed by "how to start a business". Kenyans also had some questions about having children including "how to get pregnant" and "how to get a baby boy".

When it came to tech specific "how to" searches, Kenyans wanted to know everything from how to download videos from YouTube, create a website or pay for parking in Nairobi, to more nefarious searches such as: "how to hack wifi"; "how to track a phone number"; and "how to hack a phone".

Kenya Trending How To (General)

Trending How To (Tech)

Trending Local Personalities

Nigeria
Nigerians were also interested in asking practical questions like: "how to create an email account"; "how to start a blog"; and how to write formal letters and CVs. They were also interested in recipes and cooking, Googling how to make egusi, fried rice and how to bake buns.

Nigerians also had some serious questions for Google in 2019 with the top "what is" question of the year being about Xenophobia, while many Nigerians wanted to know: "What is terrorism?"; "what is justice?"; and "what is political apathy?". The second most Googled question was about the government's controversial Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) settlements, which this year aimed to end a recurring conflict between nomadic herders and farmers in the country.

In 2019 Nigerians liked searching different smartphones with the iPhone 11, Samsung Note and Samsung S10 being the top three searched. In fact only Apple and Samsung devices featured, with no other smartphone brand cracking a top ten search in Nigeria.

The top searched person in Nigeria was musician Naira Marley, who is facing fraud and theft charges in the country, followed by the former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar, and Brazilian soccer star Neymar. The rest of the people list was dominated by rappers and singers, both local and international.

Nigeria Trending Questions (How to...)

Nigeria Trending Questions (What is...)

Mobile Phones Nigeria

People Nigeria