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100M.
That is the number of Africans that Facebook has reported to be using the social network in the continent.
This figure is half of all the Internet users in Africa, which sits at 200 million people. More than 80% of Facebook users are accessing the site from mobile phones, showing that these developing countries are more connected than ever.
This news suggests that if drones, satellites, and deals for free access from local carriers can spread the Internet to more people around the world that currently lack the IT infrastructure for quality and consistent, a large number of them will become regular Facebook users.
The fact that 80% of the Facebook users in Africa are connecting via mobile on mobile suggests the continent has largely leapfrogged laptops and is doing a great deal of its computing on small screens.
In June this year, Facebook was behind a major initiative to bring Internet to Zambia in Southern Africa. Internet.org gave locals access to basic apps such as health and employment services, Wikipedia, Facebook, Google Search, a women’s rights and a weather app.
If Facebook can can more unconnected countries on online, don’t be surprised if the social network gains billions of new users.
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