As posted on MEO Social:
It’s often said that to get to the top is easy but staying there is the hardest.
This phrase comes too often in mind when I think of Facebook’s current standing and progress. How does such an innovative company stay relevant in the modern day? How does it keep growing after all these years?
‘but staying there is the hardest’ - It’s this quote that came to mind when I started noticing the fascinating focus and emphasis that Facebook has been placing on Africa of late.
The pattern of Facebook and Africa
The noticeable effort of Facebook in Africa caught my eye. I knew it was a legitimate observation when Facebook recently opened offices in South Africa. What is a Facebook office doing in a quiet suburb in South Africa, 16 752km (10 409 miles) away from its head office in California, Menlo Park?
Well, for starters the building is self-explanatory, which is called the “Facebook Africa Head Office” which recently moved to South Africa in the City of Johannesburg in a small suburb in Sandton, Bryanston. It provides quite the contrast, as Bryanston is a quiet, safe and serene area housing one of the most powerful and disruptive companies in the world. (ITWeb Africa were able to capture the beautiful essence of the African Facebook Headquarters in South Africa, Johannesburg in the suburb of Bryanston, take a look here.
Let it be clear, there has always been a Facebook African Head office presence, at least for the past 23 months. However, the establishment of this particular office is part of a series of activities that Facebook has been doing on the African continent that is becoming increasingly noticeable. Facebook seems to have a slight obsession with Africa. If you don’t believe me, take note of the following activities:
September 2016 , Mark Zuckerberg says that “the future will be built in Africa”. This was after his visit to Kenya in which he saw the brilliant entrepreneurial spirit in Nairobi.
Recently, the owners / managers of a Nigerian Facebook group called “FIN” met with Zuckerberg in a high stakes meeting.
Speaking of the 10 year plan for Facebook, Zuckerberg speaks of ‘global domination’ and part of this is his drive of providing internet to various African countries. One such initiative is the launch of internet.org application which happened in Zambia, as well as the known drive and strides they are making in Uganda with regards to internet penetration.
Then there was the Facebook Bots for FB messenger competition held in the Middle East and Africa this year.
Furthermore, at the Facebook F8 Developers Conference, there was a focus on technological developments and possibilities across Africa, particularly in West Africa. Special viewings were also held across the continent, particularly in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria.
The list could go on and on, and goes to show that these efforts are not coincidental, but rather purposeful and strategic.
Why the obsession?
What purpose does an African Head office of Facebook, an American-based company, serve? Well, for one ever since the presence of the headquarters, the number of Africa users increased by 50 million (to 170 million).
It’s crazy to think it, but I’m under the impression that eventually Facebook will run out of users to get on its site. It’s only possible to achieve global domination if users have access to internet to eventually register on Facebook and make use of it. It’s well known that Africa has the lowest Facebook penetration. It’s quite a smart strategy to focus on the largest population of citizens that are not on Facebook and make concerted strategic efforts to get them hooked.
As a parallel example on the African continent, take PWC’s DeNovo Q2 2016 FinTech ReCap and Funding Review. The report highlights how the best opportunity for FinTech companies to take advantage of is those consumers that are ‘unbanked’ or ‘underbanked’ – which represents 66% of adults in Africa. It puts forward that small efforts by these FinTechs pose a serious threat to traditional banking, as they would have access to the largest client base.
Hence, the hypothesis that opportunities for growth for Facebook to get those citizens that don’t have Facebook holds true. This also means that opportunities are a plenty for content creators, marketers, community managers and the like as Facebook continues to grow. This is where predictive analytics becomes so important, to understand where growth will occur, and where to maximize your presence.
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