By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
Currently available to users in South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria, the leading social media network, Facebook, has extended its Online Marketplace service into 37 other countries and territories across Sub-Saharan Africa.
These include Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Gambia and Ghana.
Other countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region to benefit from this feature also include Liberia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Western Sahara, and Zimbabwe.
The Marketplace is a convenient online destination where people can discover, buy and sell items from others in their local communities, simply by tapping on the Marketplace icon embedded in the Facebook app to browse and search for items, or filter by distance or category.
Speaking on the launch, the Facebook Director of Public Policy Africa, Mr Kojo Boakye, said that the rolling out of the online business place platform into these countries is to make buying and selling efficient in communities while preventing the spread of COVID-19.
According to him, “Increasing the availability of Marketplace to 37 more countries and territories in Sub-Saharan Africa reinforces our ongoing commitment to helping connect communities and support buying and selling through one simple online destination.
“As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to impact people and businesses, the expansion of Marketplace will provide more people with a convenient destination where they can discover new products, shop for things they want, or find buyers for the things they want to sell.”
Sellers who use the Facebook app can now share a photo of their products, enter a product name, description, and price, confirm their location and select a category. They can also choose to post their listings to Facebook Buy and Sell Groups.
Interested buyers who use the app, on the other hand, will be able to find the item they are looking for and message the sellers directly through Facebook Messenger. They can also decide on the payment method depending on their own preferences.
Adedapo Adesanya