Meta & Africa: A True Love Story or an Attempt at Monopoly?

Love at first sight, Facebook, now known as Meta, has fallen for the hidden beauty of Africa. Could it be true love or are we witnessing a twist of fate?

The African tech ecosystem is rising to the limelight; we witnessed its best year ever when it raised over $5.2 billion last year.

The adoption of the internet in Africa has increased drastically over the last decade and one can argue that Meta has contributed immensely to that growth. Thoughts sprang through my mind; why is Meta so interested in Africa? Why do they keep innovating products and services to suit the most “undeveloped” continent?

In this article, we will take a brief look at some key breakout moments in Africa’s tech ecosystem and Meta’s impact in those moments, and explain its dominance in the continent.

THE GENESIS

The African tech ecosystem has experienced slow but incremental growth over the years.

In 2007, Kenyan telecom, Safaricom, launched Pesa Mobile Money, a product I called the “Mother of Fintech in Africa”. The product helped launch people with access to mobile phones right over brick-and-mortar banking into the digital economy, the first of its kind on the continent. Pesa Mobile Money wasn't just a groundbreaking success; it also helped carve the booming fintech industry in Africa today, inspiring young generations of entrepreneurs.

Fast-forward to 2014.

There was another leap in the ecosystem when Andela was founded.

The company aimed to build infrastructures to help young people in Africa thrive in the digital economy. It built hubs in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda to source, vet, and train engineers to become part of remote teams across the globe. Andela gave the continent international exposure, securing over $ 400M in funding from series D, from both local and international investment ventures.

2016 was when things started to really take shape.

Internet usage in the continent increased drastically by 8%,  E-commerce giant Jumia became Africa's first unicorn, and Andela, and other tech companies, received funding from foreign investors. Flutterwave, a unicorn, was also founded in 2016 and today it is the most valuable startup in Africa worth over $3B.

ZUCKERBERG EFFECT

On August 30th, 2016 Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise visit to the Sub-Saharan African region for the first time, a visit worth remembering for every tech lover on the continent.

During his stay, he visited local businesses and his aim was to “ better support tech development and entrepreneurship across Africa”  Meta said in a statement. Shortly before the visit, Meta launched its FreeBasics in the continent, a service that partnered with mobile service providers to allow users access to curated websites including Meta (Facebook).

I used this service a lot and can tell you that it has really helped people without an internet connection, but despite the enormous benefits, could there be an additional cost?

Mark Zuckerberg also invested $24m in Andela during that same period. The investment was led by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a company launched by him and his wife, Precilllia Chan to “advance human potential and promote equality’’. They recently invested $40m in another African start-up, a Kenyan-based agri-tech company Apollo Agriculture.

Zuckerberg's visit played a pivotal role in the tech ecosystem we have today in Africa.

DIGITAL COLONIALISM

I’ve never thought these words existed together until this day.

A publication released by the Michigan Journal of Race and Law referred to digital colonization as a modern-day “scramble for Africa”. Where large-scale companies extract, analyze and own user data for profit and market influence with nominal benefit to the data source. After Meta launched internet.org (later renamed Free Basics) in 2013, they came under huge criticism for “opposing the principles of Net Neutrality” after failed attempts to launch the service in India. Free Basics was later banned in India on the allegation of Prohibiting discriminatory tariffs for data services regulation.

Meta’s Free Basics contributed to the speedy growth of the internet, and also the use of Facebook across Africa.

Before I uninstalled the Facebook app from my mobile phone, I would literally open Facebook at least once every 15 minutes, no matter where I was or what I was doing. Facebook has over 245 million users on the continent and all our data is at the mercy of Mark Zuckerberg. Well, I am not surprised; as a digital marketer, I've discovered how effective Facebook ads are on the continent. Just select your targeted audience and boom! You get results upon results, I am guessing you already know why.

Developed countries may have set up data protection laws, but it's not the same in Africa. Only a few African countries know enough about it to implement laws restricting data theft.

THE REVELATION

No doubt, Meta has the most used tech products in Africa today.

People literally live and breathe Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, documenting their entire lives and consuming content every minute. Have you ever wondered why Meta as a company doesn't declare revenue individually from certain regions unless merged with others? If they do, you’ll be amazed.

The African market is fully untapped, many are aware, but few are taking action.

As businesses continue to spring up in Africa, Meta will continue to reap the “fruits of its labor”, because reaching potential customers through digital marketing, entails leveraging platforms where they can be found. Many tech companies choose to “neglect” the African market, restricting their services from the region, either because of infrastructure barriers or bad government, but Meta has chosen to innovate, connecting the world together irrespective of barriers.

As the company drives towards the establishment of its metaverse, it still has the African market in its plans.

The company recently launched a campaign #metaverseinAfrica to educate Africans about the metaverse and despite the allegation of “Digital Colonialism”, I believe people should make decisions in their best interest. If you feel you are being colonized by a piece of tech, then stop being colonized by limiting usage time and personal information shared.

It seems Meta Will continue in its relentless pursuit to “give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together” but will Its love for Africa continue to grow?

Let's keep our fingers crossed as we watch the drama unfold.