Meta pays for cables to reach new users

When government officials in the Nigerian state of Edo set about radically improving poor internet access for its population of 4 million, they didn't have to look far for help.

-  Emmanuel Akinwotu

MainOne, a company responsible for laying a vast network of fibre-optic cables across west Africa, was an obvious partner. Another, perhaps less obvious one, was Facebook.

As Facebook has come under rising legislative pressure in the west, it has increased its focus on Africa, particularly in countries where the regulatory and legislative environment tends to be looser. Weak and expensive internet coverage for most of Nigeria's fast-growing population of more than 200 million has driven companies hoping to tap a potential goldmine of users - and their data - into the business of getting those people online.

In places such as Edo, where government officials are committed to overhauling internet access, there are ripe opportunities for Meta, Facebook's parent company.