Nunu Ntshingila, regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Meta.

Meta is expanding the availability of Facebook Reels for iOS and Android to more than 20 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, to help content creators earn income from its platform.

Reels is a feature on Facebook that allows short-form videos, which are similar to TikTok videos, and for the first time the feature will be available in Africa.

Yesterday, Meta announced Facebook Reels will now be available to content creators in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania, Swaziland, Seychelles, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria, Namibia, Mali, Malawi, Lesotho, Kenya, Guinea, Ghana, Cape Verde, Cameroon and Burkina Faso.

Prior to yesterday’s announcement, Facebook Reels was available in India, Mexico, Canada and the US.

Consumption of online video is growing rapidly. Global video creation company Invideo says as of this year, an average person is predicted to spend 100 minutes per day watching online videos.

Commenting on the availability of Facebook Reels on the continent, Nunu Ntshingila, regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Meta, says: “We’ve seen that video now accounts for almost all of the time people spend on Facebook and Instagram, and Reels is our fastest-growing content format by far.

“This is why we’re focused on making Reels the best way for creators to get discovered, connect with their audience and earn money. We also want to make it fun and easy for people to find and share relevant and entertaining content.”

The social media company says it is strengthening its partnership with content creators by creating a variety of opportunities for creators to earn money for their Reels.

“The Reels Play bonus programme, part of Meta’s $1 billion creator investment, pays eligible creators up to $35 000 a month based on the views of their qualifying Reels. In the coming months, the bonus programme will be extended to more countries, so more creators can get rewarded for creating Reels that their communities love.”

In addition, the company says, as part of the launch, Meta is rolling out brand suitability controls, “including publisher lists, blocklists, inventory filters and delivery reports for banner and sticker ads in Facebook Reels in every region they are available, giving advertisers more control over how their ads appear in places they don't consider suitable for their brand or campaign”.

Furthermore, Meta says it has “been testing full-screen and immersive ads in between Facebook Reels since October last year, and will roll them out to more places around the world over the coming months. Just like with organic content on Facebook, people can comment, like, view, save, share and skip them.”