One in 10 Africans are logging on to Facebook every month,
the world's No.1 online social network said on Monday.
Of those 100 million people, 80 per cent are accessing the
platform via mobiles on a continent with very low internet penetration and
smartphone ownership, it said.
Facebook's global mobile advertising revenue jumped more than
150 per cent in the second quarter, accounting for about 62 per cent of overall
ad revenue.
"There is a fantastic opportunity for business as well if
you are local or a global business. Knowing that there is all these people now
in Africa that you can connect with, that is exciting as well," said
Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook's vice president for Europe, Middle East and
Africa.
Seven in 10 African consumers access the internet through their
mobile phones, compared with 6 per cent who use desktop computers, according to
an Ericsson study earlier this year.
Facebook would be pouring more resources into Africa to understand
how consumers use its product and was considering opening an office on the
continent in 2015, Mendelsohn said, without saying where the office might be.
The company is customising products to fit the needs of
individual countries, she added. For example, it can now target users based on
their internet speeds.
Facebook has more than 1.5 million active advertisers and more
than 1.3 billion active users globally.
Mendelsohn could not say how much Africa contributes to
advertising revenues but said the Europe, Middle East and Africa region makes
up 30 per cent of global revenue.
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