Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has introduced new features that allow content creators in Kenya to earn revenue from short-form videos through advertisements.

The tech giant announced on Tuesday that it is launching two monetization options: ‘in-stream advertisements,’ which appear before, during, or after videos posted on Facebook, and ‘ads on reels,’ which accompany short videos on the platform.

Kenya joins a select group of 12 African countries where Meta shares advertisement revenue with creators, including Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, and Seychelles.

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“This expansion will empower eligible creators in the vibrant creative industry in Kenya to earn money, whilst setting the bar high for creativity across the world and making Meta’s family of apps the one-stop-shop for all creators,” said Moon Baz, Meta’s global partnerships lead for Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey.

The initiative to expand Meta’s monetisation features into Kenya began in March when Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, visited the country and met with President William Ruto. Initially, the plan was to roll out these features on both Facebook and Instagram by June. However, as of now, monetisation has only been announced for Facebook, meaning Instagram creators may have to wait longer.

To be eligible for the new programme, creators need to have at least 5,000 followers on Facebook and more than 60,000 minutes of total watch time over the past two months.

Facebook remains the most popular social media platform in Kenya, with at least 52 percent of Kenyans aged 15 and above using it, according to the latest statistics from the Communications Authority of Kenya. Other popular Meta platforms in Kenya include WhatsApp, used by 48.5 percent of the population, and Instagram, used by 11.5 percent.

Prior to this rollout, only YouTube and X (formerly Twitter) shared advertisement revenues with creators. Meta’s new features are expected to boost the earning potential of Kenyan content creators and further cement Facebook’s dominance in the country’s social media landscape.