Facebook launches Africa’s first SME Council in Nigeria

"To develop better targeting tools, spend less and achieve more exposure and returns", that was the feedback from most of the selected participants when Facebook launche

d it's first SME Council in Africa on Wednesday, October 25.

The first to launch on the continent, and part of Facebook’s ongoing commitment to help support small and medium-sized businesses throughout Africa, the council was launched in partnership with small business owners to provide better digital tools for business and customer growth.

Speaking at the launch, Abi Williams, Facebook’s SMB Sales Manager, EMEA said: “Small businesses form the backbone of most of the thriving economies in the world, driving sustainable growth and creating jobs, and those in Nigeria are no different. Facebook is strategically positioned to help SME’s grow their businesses, and with a vibrant SME sector, Nigeria was a natural choice in launching our very first SME Council on the African continent. With 35 million people in other countries connected to a Nigerian business on Facebook, the global market has never been closer for Nigerian SMEs.”

Made up of a combination 15 vibrant start-ups and established SMEs from a range of industries, each business brings with them a wealth of unique experiences in understanding and embracing digital and mobile strategies, as well as reaching the Nigerian customer – making them ideally positioned to offer support to other companies who need it.

Henry Ukwu, of Paylater.com, one of the participants and council members, said that with the launch of the council, SME's now have an avenue to share challenges and opportunities in a mobile world.

"Facebook has really supported our growth as a small business because it has allowed us to get into new markets. With the launch of this council, we now have an opportunity to allow us talk about better tools we can use to increase targeting", he said.

The Nigerian SME Council is made up of 15 small-to-medium sized business owners in varying sectors and locations across Nigeria, including Lagos, Abuja and Enugu and Kano.

The Nigerian SME Council joins 10 SME Councils across the globe, including North America, Ireland, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, India and Brazil.

Council members will meet a minimum of two times a year with Facebook and Instagram teams to discuss successes and challenges, business ideas and solutions.

Facebook is the largest social networking platform in the world. As of the second quarter of 2017, it had 2 billion monthly active users on the platform.