Independent mobile ad network, InMobi, has released its Q2 Mobile Insights Report for Africa, providing insights on mobile advertising trends on the continent.

Data from the report show that InMobi served up a staggering 2.6 billion impressions in South Africa during Q2. The report finds that Nigeria and Ethiopia show the fastest mobile ad growth among mobile markets in Africa during Q2. South Africa maintains the top position as the largest African mobile market and represents one of every four mobile ads across the continent.

Isis Nyong'o, vice president and managing director InMobi Africa confirms that “Mobile ad impressions continue to grow at a rapid pace across the continent. The smartphone segment continues to show strong growth in South Africa with RIM OS as a notable highlight.”

“Mobile access has given consumers a convenient, affordable way to access digital content wherever they are, which has brought about this enormous advertiser opportunity,” she continued.

Key highlights of the South African data include:

• Overall South Africa mobile ad market remains relatively flat in Q2, with 1% increase compared to Q1.
• While Nokia still holds a 38% share of the mobile ad impressions, the Finnish phone giant is trailed closely by Samsung with a 35% stake.
• Beyond the Symbian mobile operating system (OS), Research In Motion’s BlackBerry  OS shows a strong share growth of four percentage points.
• 21% growth in smartphone impressions in South Africa during Q2.

The full report is available to download from InMobi’s website.
In related news InMobi also recently announced the acquisition of Sprout, whose HTML5 rich media creative platform assists advertisement agencies and brands and reduce the complexity of rich media mobile ad creation and distribution.