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Facebook Expands Presence in Africa; Launches WiFi Service in Kenya; Builds Fiber in Uganda with Airtel

Facebook Expands Presence in Africa; Launches WiFi Service in Kenya; Builds Fiber in Uganda with Airtel Image Credit: Facebook

Facebook expands its operations in Africa by moving its Johannesburg offices into new premises to continue to provide support to Facebook advertisers, application developers and other key partners across the continent. Facebook first opened an Africa office in 2015.

According to Facebook, since 2015 the number of people connected to Facebook across Africa has grown to 42% to over 170 million monthly active users. Of these, 94% come back on mobile.

The Facebook team in Africa has grown alongside the number of people and businesses who use it and its ecosystem of developers, entrepreneurs and business partners.

Facebook has partnered an Surf to launch its Express Wi-Fi service, a fast and affordable public Wi-Fi hotspot service by Facebook in Kenya. Surf has already rolled out more than 100 Express Wi-Fi hotspots in several communities in the greater metropolitan area of Nairobi.

Express Wi-Fi hotspot offers access to Facebook Flex and Free Basics, a collection of websites including content such as news, employment, health, education and local information for free while connected to the Express Wi-Fi network.

Earlier this year, Facebook also announced the construction of 770km of fiber-optic cables in Uganda in partnership with Bharti Airtel. 

Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director, Africa, Facebook
We have enjoyed working closely with entrepreneurs, partners, developers and small businesses as they have used Facebook as a platform for growth. It’s inspiring for us to learn from the continent and to play a role in helping people and organisations connect with the world.

Carolyn Everson, VP Global Marketing, Facebook
Facebook is deeply committed to Africa, a mobile-first continent where seven in 10 of all connected people use the platform. Our new offices are part of our ongoing commitment to invest in the African market and work with innovators across our key target countries.

Author

Ray is a news editor at The Fast Mode, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the wireless industry.

For tips and feedback, email Ray at ray.sharma(at)thefastmode.com, or reach him on LinkedIn @raysharma10, Facebook @1RaySharma

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