Facebook opened its first business office in Johannesburg, South Africa last week, which will serve businesses across the continent in a bid to help businesses grow locally and regionally and to create further value for African advertisers and people.
This new office is Facebook’s first step in furthering its investment in Africa and its people. The sales team in Africa will focus initially on Sub Saharan Africa: Kenya (East Africa), Nigeria (West Africa), and South Africa (Southern Africa). The teams will partner with governments, telecom operators, agencies, and other stakeholders to deliver localized solutions to advertisers and users continent-wide.
With more than a billion people, Africa is an important region to Facebook, and its teams want to do more to help people and businesses connect.
Nicola Mendelsohn, vice-president, EMEA, Facebook says in a press statement: “We are inspired by the incredible ways people and businesses in Africa use Facebook to connect. This momentum in Africa comes on top of strong advertiser partnerships and excellent adoption of our products across all regions. In Q1 2015, 52% of our total ad revenue came from outside the US and Canada. But we’re just getting started. Mobile is not a trend; it’s the fastest development in communications we’ve ever seen. This couldn’t be more true in Africa – where so many people are mobile-only. This new office is a significant milestone for Facebook and our teams want to partner with businesses across the continent. Africa is important to Facebook, and this office is a key part of our strategy to expand our investment and presence across EMEA. Facebook is already a central part of people’s lives in Africa, and with more than a billion people in Africa, we want to do more to help people and businesses connect.”
