Africascope 2019: press release from RFI and France 24

More than half of the population listens to and watches RFI and France 24 in French-speaking Africa every week

In 2019, RFI and France 24 confirmed their success in French-speaking African countries and their leading positions in terms of brand awareness and audience ratings, according to the results of the Africascope* 2019 conducted by Kantar-TNS in eight countries: Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Bamako (Mali), Brazzaville (Congo), Dakar (Senegal), Douala and Yaoundé (Cameroon), Kinshasa (DRC), Libreville (Gabon), and Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). In these nine cities, more than one in two residents say they listen to at least one of the two media outlets every week, meaning that nearly 11 million people are loyal to France Médias Monde's media outlets. In addition, their awareness remains high (93% of the population say they are familiar with RFI and France 24). The digital results of RFI and France 24 complement the success of the two media outlets in French-speaking Africa. With more than 6.4 million cumulative monthly visits** to their digital environments (in the first half of 2019) and continuously growing communities on social media with a high engagement rate, RFI and France 24 are consolidating their status as the leading connected news providers in the region.

In addition, according to the results of the Africascope study, RFI stands out for "the quality of its journalists' analysis and its network of correspondents on the continent," while France 24 is "the leading television channel for news in Africa, enabling viewers to form opinions on the main topics in world news."

RFI

The leading international radio station in French-speaking Africa, RFI also remains in the top five most listened to radio stations every day in seven of the eight countries surveyed (all radio stations combined) and has stabilized its listening time at more than one hour per day per listener. Across all eight countries surveyed, the international radio station is listened to weekly by nearly 40% of the population and nearly 75% of executives and managers. The world radio station remains the most listened to by this target audience in most capitals. For a large majority of listeners, RFI remains the go-to source for African news coverage, with reporting that is considered "comprehensive and credible," thanks in particular to its network of correspondents. In Bamako, the Mandinka-language offering, whose weekly audience has grown by a third, continues to be very successful. With an average of 3.8 million visits (+18% vs. H1 2018) per month to its digital platforms (in the first half of 2019), RFI confirms its success across all media in terms of visits and listenership in French-speaking Africa.

FRANCE 24

France 24 is consolidating its audience in French-speaking Africa, where it largely retains its status as the leading international news channel across all target groups. In the audiovisual landscape of seven of the eight countries studied, it ranks among the ten most-watched channels (all genres combined) by the general population and in the top five among executives and managers. In the region, 42% of residents watch France 24 every week, and the channel has consolidated its leading position among executives and managers with a weekly audience share of nearly 84%. Viewers surveyed describe France 24 as a "benchmark channel" and particularly appreciate its "editorial coverage of news on the continent." In the first half of 2019, France 24's digital platforms attracted connected audiences in the region, recording an average of 2.6 million visits per month (+26% vs. H1 2018) in French-speaking Africa.