Facebook highlights its 2019 key investments in Africa

Facebook has released its 2019 Year in Review infographic showcasing some of the milestones it accomplished across Sub-Saharan in 2019.

Among its investments, Facebook says it trained over 7 000 woman-owned businesses in digital skills across sub Saharan Africa.

It also celebrated 79 Community Leadership Circle meet-ups with over 2 ,650 people attending.

The social media giant further notes that it reached its 45th Developer Circle, with circles now in 17 African countries and representing more than 70,000 members.

In Nairobi, Facebook hosted the first-ever iD8 Nairobi Conference with over 400 African developers and startups in attendance.

Ahead of the elections in Nigeria, Facebook says it unveiled its Election Integrity exhibition in Lagos.

The company also expanded Third-Party Fact-Checking across 10 African countries.

The social media giant also announced the creation of the world’s most detailed population density maps of Africa, created by Facebook AI researchers to help humanitarian aid and relief agencies; and much more.

According to Janet Kemboi, Facebook Communications Manager – East Africa, through such targeted initiatives for instance mentorship for female entrepreneurs, skills building for budding innovators and developers, networking and scaling up for SMEs, Facebook will continue to expand its responsibility across key communities as a force for good in Africa.

“As an unequivocal show of commitment to Africa, Facebook has continued to dramatically ramp up its interactive and iterative engagements with key constituencies in Africa in 2019,” says Janet.

She notes that in the investments in Africa, Facebook is “driven by an African narrative shaped by Africans themselves, yet enabling Africa to take part in, and enrich global conversations and developments like artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).”