Despite its success, Facebook still has a long way to go on this continent.
Sixty percent of all internet users in Africa are now active on Facebook and 80% of them also have access to the mobile app, according to statistics released by the popular network this week.
According to the first meeting of the Specialized Technical Committee on Communication and ICT last week, 84% of the continent's population is covered by mobile networks.
The figures bode well for Facebook ’s investments in the continent. In June, the company said its active base in Africa had grown 20% to 120,000 from 100 in September. However, there is a big gap that the social network needs to fill in a population of more than one billion. So far, the social network’s base on the continent is concentrated in three countries, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. The company notes that 100% of its 30,000 active users in Nigeria and South Africa access the internet daily from mobile devices, while the same is true for 95% of the network’s 4,500 users in Kenya.
The famous company has launched several projects to bring its services to users in developing economies. The Internet.org project, which offers a variety of free services, has been launched in several African countries. As well as Facebook Lite, a low-bandwidth application that has been launched in countries such as Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Zimbabwe. However, low broadband access is still a significant challenge, preventing many Africans from accessing the internet.
To reach more users on the continent, Facebook will need to devise ways or partnerships to address the expensive cost of broadband connections.
