By Our Correspondent

Opera Mini – the data-saving browser that already boasts over 100 million users across Africa – became the number one downloaded app over the weekend in Nigeria thanks to the tremendous success of Opera’s “Shake and Win” campaign on the continent.

Dedicated to football’s greatest celebration, the World Cup, “Shake and Win” offered Opera fans the chance to win over $300,000 in prizes. Users needed only to shake their phone to potentially win airtime from popular providers, cash prizes, or brand-new phones.

Africans responded enthusiastically to the excitement of this year’s unforgettable tournament: Over 13 million people participated across the continent, shaking their phones over 1,000,000 times a day. More than 200,000 prizes have been won, with many grateful users taking to social media to comment on how much fun they’ve had with “Shake and Win.”

Nigerians were especially caught up in the spirit of the fun, with daily shakes peaking at over 900,000 shakes in the app, and over 140,000 prizes given away. New Nigerians users downloaded Opera Mini so much that it has reached number one in the Google Play Store there.

Opera Mini is a unique, data-saving browser built with the needs of Africans in mind. In recognition of the extremely high data costs on the continent, it allows users to save up to 90% of their data. Moreover, Opera always adds new features to the browser to craft the best online experience possible: there’s an integrated messenger, regular campaigns offering free data, and now live scores of football games and news about the latest matches, to name just a few.

“The ‘Shake and Win’ campaign was a huge success, and we’ve been honored to share the overwhelming emotions of the World Cup with our users. Football fans in Nigeria should continue to keep their eyes on Opera Mini, since we plan to continue bringing amazing user experiences to football fans there, especially with the return of the Premier League just around the corner,” said Jørgen Arnesen, EVP Mobile at Opera.

But that’s not all: Opay – Opera’s one-stop mobile-based platform for payments, transfers, loans, savings and other essential services – shot up the rankings in the Play Store as well, becoming the second-most downloaded app. Opay is already the largest mobile payment platform in Nigeria, clocking over $3B in monthly transactions. With over 18 million registered users, Opay continues to help ever more Nigerians send and receive money, pay bills, and manage their finances online.

Both products are important components of Opera’s Africa First strategy. Announced in December 2017, the company has pledged to develop mobile products and services tailored first and foremost to the needs of the African consumer. We’ll keep the ball rolling in 2023 as we continue to bring Nigerians updates and products that are fast, efficient, and focused on our users.

Download Opera Mini and join millions of Nigerians using the browser built with local needs in mind!