Nigerian creators on Instagram can monetise content from June – Meta

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, says it will introduce a new feature on the social media app in June 2024, to allow Nigerian creators to monetise their content.

The company said the feature will enable Nigerian creators to earn a livelihood through the social media platform.

Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, said this when he led a delegation to meet with President Bola Tinubu at the presidential villa on Thursday.

This was disclosed in a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser on media and publicity to the president.

Also, Clegg expressed gratitude to the president for facilitating an executive order crucial to the landing of Meta-backed deep-sea cable infrastructure in Nigeria.

He said the cable could result in a $37 billion economic impact in the next two or three years in Africa.

“It is an extraordinary infrastructure project. When it comes on stream in the first quarter of 2025, it will be twice as much as the capacity of all subsea cables that exist,” Clegg said.

“We buried the cable 50 percent deeper than any other subsea cables under the seabed.

“It is more powerful and more extensive in terms of its geographical connectivity.

“It could yield up to 37 billion dollars worth of increase in economic activity in the next two or three years across the African continent.”

Tinubu said Nigeria is ready to lead the African continent in digital technology.

The president said Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind in this age of technological advancements.

He said his administration is opening up channels of opportunities in information and communications technology, deepening capacity, and fostering partnerships.

In view of his administration’s three million technical talent (3MTT) programme, Tinubu said Nigerian youths are the most critical asset in Nigeria’s arsenal as it moves to achieve digital economic expansion.

“For us in Nigeria, we have a vibrant, gifted and resourceful youth population. Recognizing that the future is most likely to be AI-enabled, we have to prepare our youths and make them ready to compete and participate in the global economy,” Tinubu said.

“I can assure you that Nigeria is open for business. We want to lead the African continent in digital technology.

“Data is valuable to our development. We are ready to cooperate on technological advancements. It is the only way to go. We need a collaboration that will be a win-win for all.”

Emphasising the importance of technology in driving small businesses, Tinubu said he is committed to ensuring that technology is deployed, adapted, enhanced, and used to catalyse growth across a vast majority of micro-businesses, spurring mass prosperity down the line.

“What interests me is the use of technology in the development of small businesses. We need to make the business environment more conducive for you and more profitable for us as well,” he said.

“I hope we can collaborate and continue to promote our mutual interests.”

Also speaking, Bosun Tijani, minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy, emphasised the importance of Meta platforms in Nigeria, stressing the need for collaborative engagements to promote development in the digital economy sector.

“We must continue to engage to create opportunities for our people so they can also share in global prosperity,” Tijani said.

The minister said digital technology is an opportunity to connect Africa to contribute to the development of the world.