Meta, the parent company of Facebook is highlighting key milestones achieved in their 2021 Africa Year in Review. The infographic shows some of Meta’s investments and initiatives across sub-Saharan Africa this year. They focused on driving innovation, connecting communities, helping businesses to grow and supporting the tech and creator ecosystem. Meta notes that it also reinforced its continued commitment to Africa through these projects.
The 2021 Africa year in review highlights includes the launch of Instagram lite, available in Swahili, Oromo and Amharic. The rolling out of Instagram awareness campaign in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. The rollout of Africa’s first paid online events in South Africa. Spotlighting of content creators in Nigeria and Ghana. Launch of Small Act, Big Impact initiative for community leaders in Kenya. Meta is set to officially launch Facebook Reels and Professional mode for creator profiles in EMEA next year.
Kezia Anim-Addo, Director for Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa, commented, saying: “This year we’ve witnessed an abundance of talent, growth and resilience from across Africa, despite the many challenges due to the ongoing COVID pandemic. It’s been inspiring to witness the development of various communities, from creators to SMBs and tech innovators.Many of whom are using Meta technologies to grow and develop their craft. We believe that Meta sits at the intersection of innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and social connection. We’re excited about the future of the continent, and Meta’s ongoing role in helping to unlock Africa’s potential.”
Some of the key 2021 Meta Africa Year in Review includes:
Facebook Marketplace: Rolled out Facebook Marketplace to 37 countries and territories across Sub-Saharan Africa. Enabling more people to discover, buy and sell items from others in their local communities.
Digital Literacy Trainings: Undertook digital literacy training, focused on online safety, privacy, news, media literacy and digital citizenship, across eight countries training over 65,000 people.
2Africa & 2Africa Pearl: Alongside eight local and global partners, announced the creation of new branches and a new segment of the subsea cable called ‘2Africa Pearls’. Which now connects three continents — Africa, Europe, and Asia. Making it the longest subsea cable system ever developed at more than 45,000 kilometres.
Economic Impact Trainings: Trained over 80,000 SMBs across 13 countries through our economic impact programmes, including Meta Boost (formerly Boost with Facebook) and SheMeansBusiness. Graduated 338 young people through the Digify Pro programme, with nearly 70% getting jobs.
Blood Donations feature: Now available across 12 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Over 3.9m Facebook users in these countries signed up to receive blood donation notifications from local blood donation centers.
Instagram Lite: introduced Instagram Lite for Android and its availability in Swahili, Oromo and Amharic languages.
Made by Africa, Loved by the World: Celebrated Africa’s growing cultural impact on the world through a global campaign that showcased eight African creatives and businesses from Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon.
2021 Facebook Community Accelerator Program: Announced the winners of the 2021 Facebook Community Accelerator Program, featuring 13 community leaders from Nigeria, South Africa, and Kenya, who will receive training, mentorship and up to $50,000 USD in funds to invest in their community.
Instagram Reel Ads in 25 African countries: Expanded Reels Ads to countries in Africa with the Reels feature on Instagram – enabling businesses on Instagram to reach greater audiences and allowing people to discover inspiring new content from brands and creators.
SMB WhatsApp Bot: Launched ‘Facebook Business Coach’ on WhatsApp, an innovative and easily accessible way for SMBs in English speaking Africa to learn more about how to grow their business on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Africa No Filter & Meta Virtual Reality Fund: Announced the opening of the grants and mentoring program “Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds” aimed at boosting the use of Virtual Reality in Africa’s storytelling and helping to shift negative stereotypes about the continent.
Click to view the full infographic on Meta’s investments and activities in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2021. (https://bit.ly/3IuSJCZ). Download Infographic: https://bit.ly/3EGCErg
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Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.
Facebook is partnering with Creatives Garage to launch a platform where Kenyan creatives can amplify their work and inspire others. This is part of efforts from Facebook to highlight the successes of people.
The partnership will also see creatives in Kenya receive training on audience engagement and monetizing of content on Facebook.
The partnership launches with the #RealpeopleRealstories campaign that will run till December 16th 2020.
Through the #RealpeopleRealstories campaign, Facebook will showcase stories of ordinary people using creativity and innovation to inspire their communities. The campaign will also highlight how Facebook and Instagram help people stay connected and pursue goals that build communities.
At Facebook, we support and invest in various communities across the continent notes Janet Kembo, Facebook Communications Manager for Eastern Africa. One of our key roles is investing and supporting African youth with diverse creative talent, she continues.
#RealpeopleRealstories aims to encourage people to share their experiences and motivate others to find solutions to everyday challenges. We are delighted to work with Creatives Garage to amplify the untold stories of ordinary people who are inspiring their communities through their work.”
Janet Kembo
Now more than ever, creatives need innovative ways to share content that could provide sustainable income streams. Notes Liz Kilili, Creatives Garage Founder and Managing Director, talking about the partnership and initiative.
Online social media and networking company, Facebook, announces it will open its first engineering office in Africa. The new office will be located in Lagos, Nigeria and will become operational in the second half of fiscal year 2021.
Facebook Lagos office will support the Sub-Saharan region and contribute to the African technology ecosystem. It will also tap into Africa’s budding developer talent pool to build products for the continent and beyond.
This will be the company’s second office on the continent. After opening the first in Johannesburg, South Africa back in 2015.
Like the Johannesburg office, the Facebook Lagos office will house teams across sales, partnerships, policy and communications. With the Lagos, Nigeria office becoming the first in the region to house an engineering team.
“This is where a lot of the future is going to get built“
Mark Zuckerberg
We are continuing to invest in and support local talent shares Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director, Facebook Africa. The office will be key in helping to expand how we service our clients across the continent, she continues.
“This is where i think a lot of the future is going to get built. … The key thing is that you are building this. … We are at the beginning of this journey. … The more we can do to empower folks here to build the future, that’s the better that we can do. … Of course, we will invest more in the future.”
Ime Archibong, Facebook’s Head of New Product Experimentation noted the new Facebook engineering office presents exciting opportunities.
“The opening of our new office in Lagos, Nigeria presents new and exciting opportunities in digital innovations to be developed from the continent and taken to the rest of the world. All across Africa, we’re seeing immense talent in the tech ecosystem. I’m proud that with the upcoming opening of our new office, we’ll be building products for the future of Africa, and the rest of the world, with Africans at the helm. We look forward to contributing further to the African tech ecosystem.”
Social media giants Facebook finally launches its Avatars in Africa to give people new ways to express themselves online. The feature was launched last year with global release expected in late 2019 or early 2020.
Avatars are digital personas that allow people to engage across Facebook and Messenger in a more personal and dynamic way. You can use your personalized Facebook avatar to share a range of emotions and expressions via a digital persona that is unique to you.
There are many ways you can use your avatar including in comments, Stories, Messenger and soon, text posts with backgrounds too. With so many emotions and expressions to choose from, avatars let you share your authentic reactions and feelings with family and friends across the app. You can customise your avatar with hairstyles, complexions, outfits, COVID-19 support stickers and more.
To create your avatar, go to the Facebook or Messenger comment composer, click on the “smiley” button, and then the sticker tab. Click “Create Your Avatar”.
“Facebook is home to some of your most personal content and we want to allow people to share and react to that content in the most personalised way possible,” says Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director, Facebook Africa. “We’re excited to give people more options to convey their identity on Facebook, allowing them to share in a more personal, light-hearted way.”
Avatars include hundreds of global sticker packs and integrations with GIF providers and can also be shared across Facebook and Messenger by:
Facebook launches video and messaging chat app called Messenger Kids across Africa. The app allows children to connect with their friends and family in a supervised environment.
Parents can monitor and control children’s activities through a dashboard. From the dashboard, parents can monitor recent contacts, chat history and reported and blocked contacts. They can also see a log of sent and received images and videos in chats. As well as enable supervised friending and remote device log out through the dashboard.
The app is suitable for children between the ages of six to twelve years. Messenger Kids app is free and you can be download it from the Apple, Google Play and Amazon app stores.
Facebook shares it worked closely with experts in online safety, child development and media, and consulted with child safety advocates and educators across Africa ahead of the app launch. To ensure the app provides a service that balances parental control with features that help kids learn how to connect responsibly online.
“We know that parents are turning to technology more than ever to help their kids connect with friends and family online“ says Kojo Boakye, Facebook Public Policy Director, Africa. With privacy, security and parental control at the heart of the app, Messenger Kids provides a safe, fun space, controlled by parents to do exactly that, he continues.
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