BY MIRIAM MANGWAYA
TWO Zimbabwean entrepreneurs have featured in a collection of videos released by social technology giant, Meta, on Friday in Lusaka, Zambia, as it launched its campaign to promote online business operations.
Maxwell Chimedza and Kerita Tawana Choga and other entrepreneurs from Zambia and South Africa featured in the videos which explored their use of Meta social media platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meta released a collection of short films aimed at illustrating the innovativeness of southern African entrepreneurs in its campaign, dubbed #Changemakers and to celebrate their resilience during the unprecedented COVID-19 difficulties.
Meta launched the campaign to encourage entrepreneurs who run small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) to digitise their operations to conquer the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meta Africa regional director Nunu Ntshingila said 77% of SMBs in Africa had indicated that their businesses had grown stronger because of social media technologies, in a study conducted by the company recently.
“We are proud to play a role in this transformation. Our recent study conducted by Genesis Analytics has indicated that 84% of African SMBs that use Meta technologies have reported them to be critical in the growth of their business. More-so, 77% indicated that their business is stronger today because of our technologies,” Ntshingila said.
“It’s important for us to help SMBs and people who are using Meta technologies as they rebuild, re-engineer, and recover from the ongoing pandemic and economic crisis. We believe, as these change makers have shown, that digital tools and solutions can empower SMBs and creators to find new customers, create revenue streams, and ultimately, reinvent their businesses for a time of flux and change.”
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Chimedza, a Zimbabwean teacher is featured in one of the videos. He used Facebook and WhatsApp to educate students when schools closed during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Choga also featured in one of the videos after she launched errand-running service, Tuma Kerri, in November 2020. She now serves hundreds of customers mostly from the diaspora who send goods to family and friends in Zimbabwe or get other chores done.
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