Julianne Mweheire, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Director of Industry Affairs and Content Development, has revealed that about 50% of internet data usage in the country is on TikTok.
Speaking during a four-day Joint Regional Economic and Commercial Diplomacy Retreat at Serena Hotel Kigo, Mweheire explained that in the past two years, the trend of data consumption has changed greatly, with several consumers preferring to use data for video communication.
The trend has seen the number of TikTok users in Uganda grow to 4.4 million, who use 296,470 gigabytes of data per month, followed by WhatsApp users with 94,494 gigabytes.
On the cost of data, Mweheire said this has gone down by more than 50% since 2019.
“Mobile operators have since 2019 reduced data prices by 51%,” she said, noting that the price per gigabyte of data is also low compared to other East African countries, with one gigabyte going for $0.86 in Uganda, $0.76 in Rwanda, $0.97 in Kenya, $1.53 in Tanzania, $40 in South Sudan, and $0.83 in South Africa.
Meanwhile, the retreat organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which brought together Ugandan ambassadors stationed in neighboring countries to explore ways to enhance Uganda’s presence in their respective mission countries, offered a chance to reflect on Uganda’s progress and develop a resource mobilization strategy.
