Keenly eyeing the future and targeting the next billion users, Facebook will soon be opening its first office in Africa. Based in South Africa Johannesburg suburb, the offices will be run by Nunu Ntshingila. The current estimated Facebook users in Africa are about 120 million which is a small number compared to the more than a billion people who call it home. The company has already been seen active in its Internet.org and Facebook Lite initiatives which will also play center stage when they launch.
Africa matters
Developing nations present a big opportunity for Facebook as it seeks to get more users on board, but limited Internet access — both due to availability and due to costs — as well as lower-end smartphones presents some difficulties. That’s where Internet.org, in part, comes in.
Facebook has already recently rehashed its Facebook Lite app which we reviewed recently. It takes up very limited space on a device and uses little data during use. Said Facebook’s VP for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa Nicola Mendelsohn, “This is one of the places where our next billion users are coming from. It would be a massive missed opportunity. Africa matters.”
