Nigeria Welcomes Facebook’s Free Basics Service

Facebook in partnership with Airtel has launched its free-but-restricted internet service in Nigeria. The service will make the internet accessible to more Nigerians by providing them access to a range of free basic services such as news, maternal health, travel, local jobs, sports, communication, and local government information.

Using the Airtel Network, subscribers will not incur any cost while accesing websites on the Free Basics platform. Using the Airtel Network, subscribers will not incur any cost while accesing websites on the Free Basics platform.

This initiative marks a significant milestone in our nation’s drive towards deepening digital connectivity and enhancing mobile broadband access for millions of Nigerians in line with the key objective of Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan (NBBP). It is our belief that this partnership, the first of its kind in Nigeria, will create a plethora of opportunities for millions of Nigerians, empowering them to connect to their dreams, realise their full potentials, and succeed in their professional and personal endeavours, said Segun Ogunsanya, CEO, Airtel Nigeria .

Chris Daniels, Vice President, Internet.org at Facebook, said: “Bharti Airtel Africa has been an important partner in bringing connectivity and access to people across Africa. Our partnership has played a key role in helping bring digital content and services to people and communities in growing countries.”

To date, Facebook estimates that its connectivity efforts, which include Free Basics, have brought more than 25 million people online who would not be otherwise.

Also, Ime Archibong, Director of Global Product Partnerships at Facebook, added: “We have spent time with the developer community here in Nigeria to understand how we can help people here build and create for their communities, and by bringing Free Basics to Nigeria we hope to provide another platform for developers to bring relevant services to people free of charge. At launch, we have more than 85 services included in Free Basics and hope to spur more development to bring relevant, basic services to Nigerians.”

We believe that local entrepreneurs and developers will be the ones to meet the needs of their immediate community, and we are working with developers to know how we can support them in doing so. Together, Facebook and the developer, entrepreneur and non-profit communities in Africa can still do so much more, and we will continue to invest in technology and partnerships to help people realise the benefits of connectivity, he stated.