By Technology Times Staff Reporter
Lagos. March 6, 2013: Mobile phone users in Nigeria, Lesotho and Zambia representing about 54 per cent of 20,000 respondents polled by CNN ahead of the selection of the new Pope believe that the world is ready for an African Pope.
Jana, a Boston-based mobile technology company, was commissioned by CNN to gather data from consumers in Africa about the possibility of an African Pope.
The survey, conducted with the Jana Research platform, polled 20,000 of Jana’s members in 11 African countries including Nigeria.
The survey was conducted while the conclave was underway in The Vatican and people across the world are focused on the selection of a new Pope.
During the selection process, for the first time in years, an African Cardinal was considered one of the favorites for the Papacy. With only a few days before a decision was expected to be reached, CNN worked with Jana to gain insight on sentiment in Africa, Jana said.
According to the company, millions of consumers worldwide access Jana’s online platform to share their opinions and participate in targeted offers. The world’s largest brands work with Jana to gather insights on these consumers in real time.
For CNN, Jana ran one of the largest mobile surveys ever conducted in Sub-Saharan Africa, targeting 20,000 people to offer rich consumer insights in only four days.
Peter Bale, VP & GM Digital for CNN International says “the results were a fascinating insight into the views of thousands of African people on faith and the enthusiasm about the possibility of an African Pope. Using the Jana platform to reach the booming mobile market in Africa allowed us to engage far more people in more countries than we could have done by other means.”
Key Findings from the Survey
Respondents were asked whether they believed Africa, the Vatican, or the world was ready for an African Pope. In addition, respondents were asked how an African Pope may affect the continent or themselves, and whether they believed he would make the Catholic Church more or less conservative. Data gathered through the survey revealed an array of consumer attitudes towards the potential impact of an African Pope:
82 per cent of respondents across the continent believe that Africa is ready for an African Pope, versus only 61 per cent who believe the world is ready for an African Pope.
Less than 54 per cent of respondents in Lesotho, Nigeria, and Zambia believe that the world is ready for an African Pope.
51 per cent of respondents believe that an African Pope would make the Catholic Church more conservative, while only 22 per cent believe he would make the Church less conservative.
Only 40 per cent of respondents in Kenya believe that an African Pope would make the Catholic Church more conservative.
In nearly every country surveyed, over 80 per cent of the respondents said that an African Pope would increase support for Catholicism across the continent.