African content creators can now create and earn money from Facebook Reels

Meta has now made Facebook Reels available to more than 20 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. These countries include South Africa, Seychelles, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Guinea, Ghana, Cape Verde, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso. Before this launch, Reels was available on Facebook in India, Mexico, Canada, and the U.S.

What’s the deal?

Reels are 60 seconds short form entertaining video experiences that creators use to connect with their audiences. It was introduced on Instagram in 2020 while the Facebook version was introduced in 2021.

Reels offers you a set of specific tools to help you make creative short videos to your liking. You can record and edit 15-second Reels videos with audio, text, special effects, and stickers, and share them with your followers.

Reels works pretty similar to how TikTok works. Both platforms allow you create entertaining videos using special video tools, and they also look almost identical. Only that Reels is a new feature within a platform, while TikTok is a platform itself. 

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.

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.

Nunu Ntshingila, Regional director, Meta

Meta is exploring ways to make it easier for creators to share Reels to both their Facebook and Instagram audiences, such as cross posting.

Create and earn

Portrait of a beautiful smiling afro american woman holding money isolated on a gray background

Meta is creating a variety of opportunities for creators to earn money for their Reels. The Reels Play bonus program, part of Meta’s $1 billion creator investment pays eligible creators up to $35,000 based on the performance of their reels.

‘We’re focused on making Reels the best way for creators to get discovered, connect with their audience, and earn money’, Nunu Ntshingila says.

The recent focus on Creators

Twitter introduced the Tip Jar which allows users and creators send and receive money through various payment services or platforms and Ticketed Spaces where creators are able to host a paid Spaces session.

How Facebook Reels work

Anyone can create a reel on Facebook and become a creator on the global stage or just share them with friends and family. Simply create a reel from the top of Feed or while you’re watching a reel and either select video clips from your camera roll or capture something new. You can also tap Reels at the top of News Feed or within a group’s feed.

There are also creative editing tools which help creators to add audio, AR effects, timer, etc. An additional feature is Remix, which allows you create your own reel alongside an existing, publicly-shared reel on Facebook.

Over the coming weeks, there will be new updates will to make it easier to create and discover reels in new places like Stories, and Suggest Reels in Feed.


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