28 September 2015.
New data from Facebook has revealed that the majority of users from key African online markets use the social network to interact with small-to-medium sized businesses.
63% of users from Kenya, 61% from South Africa and 54% from Nigeria actively engage with the Facebook pages of small businesses.
The trend is being attributed to the fact that Facebook has recently added several new features for Pages, with many of these being aimed at small business Pages.
Pages can now send private messages to customers, add sections, and display call-to-action buttons.
A spokesperson from Facebook has commented on the trend, saying: “With more than a billion people visiting Pages on Facebook every month, Pages are the best place for businesses, and in particular small businesses, to reach the people who care about their business.”
Africa is a key frontier for future online growth, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the social network will be focussing on Africa as an important emerging market.Â
