Fred & I recently attended 27Dinner at Capello Sandton, where Mr. Mike “The Iron” Stopforth tasked attendees to do a 270 second talk on, well, just about anything really… “a gem of information, a nifty little discovery, some new app you’ve been playing with, a funny story, a piece of advice or even an inspiring speech”.

Without thinking about it, I wanted to give a bit of insight into the relevance of the number: 4.5 million.

Why 4.5 million? Sounds like a random number doesn’t it?

It’s the widely agreed upon stat for number of Internet users in South Africa (+-).

So, I opened up my mobile browser, asked ol’ faithful Google for some advice, and here were some of it’s… errr… my findings:

HOW MUCH IS 4.5 MILLION?

1. Amount of Internet users in South Africa
2. Predicted amount of iPhones that will be sold in Wallmart (US) in 2009
3. Amount of people with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States
4. Amount of people with Alzheimer’s disease in the United States (OK, you saw that coming a mile away, sorry!)
5. Amount of viewers the most-watched programme on TV received in 2009 – The 2009 Academy Awards
6. Amount of Americans currently unemployed
7. Official world robot population (Really! Check it out here)
8. Estimate number of HIV infected people in South Africa as recorded by Stats SA
9. Amount of registered firearms in South Africa
10. Amount of plastic waste (in tons) being dumped annually in India
11. Total white population in South Africa (this excludes all of Steve Hoffmeyer’s children off-course)
12. Total population of the Western Cape province in South Africa
13. Amount of registered tax payers in South Africa in 2003
14. Population of countries such as Norway and Ireland
15. Bigger than the populations of New Zealand, UAE, Singapore and Congo
16. Amount of money (in Rands) Victor Matfield was paid to play club rugby for 6 months in Toulon, France
17. Amount of money (in Rands) of unclaimed lotto winnings just waiting to be collected
18. Amount of money (in Zim Dollars) you’ll pay for a taxi ride to Harare Airport
19. Number of contract mobile subscribers in South Africa in 2006
20. Number of digital marketing factoids shared with clients of WWC in the last week (we are just that talented!!)

Ok, so this wasn’t the most scientific way of doing research, but hey, it was fun and bottomline, you get the picture, right

Read more posts by LouisJvR

Louis is the Johannesburg manager of web marketing firm World Wide Creative. Louis is also known as the ‘Case Study Guy’ with an encyclopaedic knowledge of research resources to support the strategic initiatives he is involved in. In between organising Heavy Chef Sessions in the Gauteng region, Louis happens to have a mean sidestep on the rugby field. With his silky skills, dashing good looks, Colgate smile and cunning wit, Louis is the high school quarterback of the World Wide Creative marketing team.

Related posts:

1. Social Media in Africa
2. Where in the world are all the internet users?
3. World Internet Statistics
4. He wears your shirt (for a day)
5. Nic’s Google Analytics Tip #1: