BBC, Facebook and Google Focus on East Africa

By Ogova Ondego
Published March 14, 2019

Google has set up a programme aimed at creating economic opportunities for women in Kenya.

The initiative, known as Women Will, is expected to connect women to digital skills and mentorship.

“From helping women across Kenya access digital skills and bringing together women entrepreneurs, Google is keen on developing and supporting programmes that help women build skills, get inspired and connect with [one another],” said Farzana Khubchandani, Google country marketing manager in charge of Kenya.

Google says its Women Will programme is also available in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Japan and Mexico.

Meanwhile, Facebook is set to open its first content review centre for sub-Saharan Africa in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The US American social network says this review centre is part of its ongoing investment across sub-Saharan Africa and its commitment to safety and security on its platform.

The centre will by the end of 2019 be staffed by 100 reviewers providing service in Kiswahili, Somali, Oromoo, Tigrinya and Hausa, Facebook says.

“Over the years, we have made significant investments globally, and locally in ensuring that people see the content they want to see, and are aware of what is and isn’t allowed on the platform.” said Fadzai Madzingira, Facebook’s Public Policy Associate for Content. “That’s why we have a set of community standards and last year published the more detailed internal guidelines around these rules. We want Facebook to be a place where people can express themselves and freely discuss different points of view, whilst ensuring that it remains safe for everyone.”

Ebele Okobi, Facebook’s Public Policy Director in charge of Africa, said of the initiative,“This further highlights our commitment to serving the community of people using our platforms across Africa, as well as our commitment to continuing to invest and partner locally across the continent. I am delighted that through our partnership with Samasource we will be opening our first content review centre here in Africa.”

Carolyn Komen, Programme Director of Samasource that is working with Facebook on this project, said, “We’re excited to partner with Facebook in Nairobi to help keep people on the social platform safe and continue our mission. Our team will receive extensive training and support, benefit from industry-leading facilities, and have the opportunity to advance their careers in tech through this partnership.”

This comes hot on the heels of BBC World Service that is putting emphasis on the use of languages such as Somali, Amharic, Oromoo, Tigrinya, Igbo, Yoruba, Kinyarwanda, Hausa and Kiswahili.

BBC recently moved its Somali news recording and transmission from London in England to Nairobi in Kenya where it has set up its East African broadcasting hub.

“For the first time in over 60 years of broadcasting BBC News Somali’s radio programmes will now all be recorded and transmitted in East Africa,” BBC World Service said in a statement to the media. “Starting from Mon 18th Feb, listeners can hear daily news bulletins from the recently launched BBC East African bureau in Nairobi.”

BBC News Somali, launched in 1957, reportedly reaches a weekly audience of around 3.6 million people in East Africa, the Horn of Africa and around the world via radio, online–Twitter, Facebook and Instagram–and TV.

“BBC News Somali is the most listened to international radio in Somalia and has one of the biggest Somali Facebook pages with over 1.1 million followers,” BBC says.

BBC is currently running what it terms as the first ever BBC Horn of Africa roadshow for BBC News Amharic, BBC News Afaan Oromo, and BBC News Tigrinya language services that were launched in September 2017.

Rachael Akidi, BBC Head of East Africa, says, “We want to introduce our journalism to audiences across Ethiopia. It’s Africa’s second most populous nation with a young and dynamic demographic. We hope the roadshow will be able to capture the momentous transformation the country has undergone over the last year, and also examine some of the challenges it still faces. It’s an opportunity for our audiences to hear the full story of Ethiopia.”

BBC World Service says the roadshow–that runs March 4 – 16, 2019–coincides with the almost one year anniversary since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power and will be an opportunity to assess his achievements and also analyse the challenges he currently faces.