Facebook now permits Kenyan producers to profit from short-form videos

The social network Facebook has announced that its parent company Meta has finally released elements that would enable content artists on its platform in Kenya to get money from short-form videos through advertising.

The internet giant revealed two ways to make money on Tuesday: in-stream advertisements, which show up before, during, or after videos uploaded to Facebook, and advertising on reels, which run with short films uploaded to the network.

Kenya is now one of twelve African nations that Meta pays authors a portion of their ad earnings. The Seychelles, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, and Egypt are among the others.

Moon Baz, Meta’s global partnerships lead for Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey, stated, “This expansion will empower eligible creators in the vibrant creative industry in Kenya to earn money, whilst setting the bar high for creativity across the world and making Meta’s family of apps the one-stop-shop for all creators.”

When Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, visited Kenya in March and spoke with President William Ruto, the process of expanding Meta’s monetization capabilities to the country got underway.

By June, both Facebook and Instagram users were supposed to have access to the functionalities, but Instagram creators could have to wait longer as Meta has only disclosed Facebook monetization.

In order to be eligible for the new program, authors must have 5,000 or more Facebook followers and have seen content for over 60,000 minutes in the past two months.

As of late, the Communications Authority of Kenya has released figures showing that at least 52% of Kenyans aged 15 and older use Facebook, making it the most popular social networking site in the nation.

In Kenya, other widely used Meta platforms are Instagram, which is used by 11.5% of the population, and WhatsApp, which is used by 48.5% of the population.

At the moment, only X and YouTube give creators a cut of ad money.