Meta, the parent company to social media network, Facebook has announced the availability of its feature, Facebook Reels. The reels which is now available for both iOS and Android devices is visible in more than 20 countries across sub-Saharan Africa will see that creators on the app will utilise the new feature in making money in the coming months.
Prior to its availability to sub-Saharan Africa, Facebook Reels were available in India, Mexico, Canada and the United States. Currently, South Africa, Seychelles, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Guinea, Ghana, Cape Verde, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso are present African countries with the new feature.
Also, the new feature would see to creators earning up to $35,000 per month – based on the views gained by each creator. This is also, a part of its Reels Play Bonus Program, a $1 billion creator investment.
Facebook Reels was first launched in the United State in September last year and allows creators to share short-form video content on Facebook or cross-post Reels from Instagram in order to reach a broader audience.
According to Meta, its reasons for making reels available to the aforementioned African countries was to expand the play bound program to more countries and have creators rewarded for creating community based content.
“Building on our deep experience in helping creators earn meaningful income from our monetization products like in-stream ads and Stars, we’re also building direct monetization options for Facebook Reels through ad revenue share and fan support”, Meta said in a press statement.
Commenting on the launch, Nunu Ntshingila, Regional Director for sub-Saharan Africa at Meta says the launch is in response to the fact that people mostly watch videos.
“Meta is exploring ways to make it easier for creators to share Reels to both their Facebook and Instagram audiences, such as cross posting”, Ntshingila said. “We’re focused on making Reels the best way for creators to get discovered, connect with their audience, and earn money”.
Meta also added that as part of its reels launch, there’d also be reels in stories, reels in watch, top of feed and suggestion reels in feed, to make it easier for creators to share crosspost – sharing reel to their Facebook and Instagram audience.
