Social networking giant Facebook is looking to scale in Africa by boosting connectivity on the continent. The US-based company made initial forays into the continent last year, when it set up shop in Johannesburg.

Africa has the lowest levels of broadband connectivity, according to the UN; Internet availability reaches less than 2% of the populations in Guinea, Somalia, Burundi and Eritrea.

Worldwide, there are over 1.65 billion monthly active Facebook users. As a whole, Africa constitutes only 8% of Facebook's global monthly users, mainly due to the continent's comparatively low Internet penetration rates.

However, Facebook will be hoping to increase its user numbers on the continent through its ambitious but controversial Internet.org initiative, a mobile Internet service which lets users access some sites for free.

Speaking to the media yesterday in Johannesburg, Nunu Ntshingila, head of Facebook Africa, said, over the past year, since she started her tenure, she has been travelling extensively across Africa to get a better understanding of the continent.

More access

"There are about 800 million people who are not yet connected in Africa and that has to change," Ntshingila said. She added that globally, the number of unconnected people stands at 3.2 billion out of 7.3 billion.

To solve Africa's connectivity issues, she said the social networking company will finally bring satellite technology to the continent this year.

Facebook is pushing ahead with plans to bring more Internet access to sub-Saharan Africa by leasing bandwidth capacity on three satellites currently in orbit. It will be used for its subsidised Express WiFi paid service, which is part of its Internet.org programme.

Ntshingila also noted that for Facebook to scale in Africa, the company will push some products like Facebook Lite, a new version of Facebook for Android that uses less data and works well across all network conditions. Facebook Lite is less than 1MB, so it is fast to install and quick to load. It includes Facebook's core experiences, like news feed, status updates, photos and notifications.

In April this year, Facebook also launched its Agency Ambassador Programme for Africa as part of its drive to equip its agency partners with the skills and information they need to make the most of Facebook as a marketing and advertising platform.

Agency ambassadors have a direct line to Facebook and receive extensive training to help them become their agency's expert in Facebook's tools, technologies and solutions.

SA stats

Facebook also revealed statistics on the social network's use in SA, saying 13 million South Africans use the platform every month, which equates to 52% of Internet users in the country. According to Facebook, eight million South Africans use the platform every day.

The company also noted the top three social networks in SA are Facebook-owned WhatsApp (84%); Facebook (81%); and Google-owned YouTube (74%).

South Africans use Facebook for a number of reasons, said the social network, explaining that 78% use it to connect with friends; 55% to voice opinions; and 55% to keep up with news and current affairs.

About 37% of South Africans choose Facebook as their favourite platform, as they consider it the "best to discover new content and products"; and 47% have received product or service recommendations on Facebook, the company noted.

The top three discoveries on Facebook among South Africans are technology (35%), entertainment (34%), and holiday travel (31%). The top three places/times to use Facebook are: 83% at home; 69% before going to bed; and 53% at work.

South Africans have high expectations of brands and important social concerns, with 68% expecting advertising to be relevant to the people of SA. About 71% say they only pay attention to brands they trust.

According to Facebook, corruption is the biggest social concern in SA, while climate change is the least of South Africans' worries.

The social network also pointed out that South Africans are multi-device users, with 83% using two or more devices to access the Internet. However, 91% still access the Internet via fixed devices such as desktops and notebooks.

Nonetheless, it noted mobile sophistication is growing among South Africans, as 88% use smartphones daily, clocking up an average of five hours and 13 minutes a day. Facebook also noted 79% of feature phone users plan to upgrade to a smartphone in the next two years. Less than 10% of South Africans still use feature phones to access the Internet.

Meanwhile, 73% of mobile device owners said their lives have significantly improved as a result of access to a smartphone.

Video is a frequent habit in SA, said Facebook, adding that nine in 10 Internet users watch video content at least once a month, and 57% have posted or shared video content on Facebook.