Facebook investments in infrastructure and connectivity across the Africa are expected to deliver over $57billion(Sh6.1trillion) in economic benefits over the next five years, a new study has revealed.
Over the years, Facebook has invested in infrastructure and partnerships to address the barriers to connectivity, such as the lack of availability in infrastructure, affordability, relevance and readiness to get online.
According to The Economist Intelligence Unit - Inclusive Internet Index 2020, over 800 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are unconnected to the internet.
“At Facebook we’re committed to Africa and the role that we can play in improving the continent's global competitiveness,” said Facebook’s Africa Public Policy Director, Kojo Boakye.
He added that they have been heavily invested in infrastructure and connectivity initiatives over the past there years that aim to affordably connect people on this continent and create tangible social-economic benefits
In aiming to provide financial and technical inputs that can make infrastructure easier and cheaper to deploy within the continent, Facebook’s infrastructure investments and connectivity initiatives include the following: Investing in Infrastructure that supports internet connectivity such as submarine cables, edge networks
Facebook will also support mobile Operators through facilitation initiatives such as express Wi-Fi that will enable local ISPs and operators to establish low-cost access networks.
The solutions which are currently available in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania are helping bring more people online and stimulate data usage and Internet traffic overall.
Facebook has also invested in two Rural Access partnerships (Africa Mobile Networks- AMN in Cameroon and Democratic Republic of Congo, and BRCK in Kenya and Rwanda) that focus on reducing the costs of rolling out broadband in less populated and poorer rural areas.
