How the journey started

Earlier in March, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Sir Nick Clegg, led a delegation of Meta Platforms Incorporated to visit President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.

A statement issued thereafter by the spokesman to the President, Ajuri Ngelale, said Clegg promised that Meta would introduce in June 2024 a feature on its Facebook and Instagram apps that would allow Nigerian creators to monetize their content to enable them to earn a living using the app.

Quoting Clegg, Ajuri said the Meta chief thanked Tinubu for an executive order he issued which enabled the landing of the Meta-backed deep-sea cable in Nigeria.

At the meeting, President Tinubu was said to have urged Meta to invest more in Nigeria, especially young people.

Eligibility criteria

Meta noted that to use either product, creators must pass and remain compliant with Facebook’s Partner Monetisation Policies and Content Monetisation Policies, and they must be at least 18 years old.

Additionally, for in-stream ads, Meta said creators must meet certain eligibility requirements such as having a minimum of 5,000 followers.

According to Meta, In-stream Ads can play before, during, or after on-demand videos, whether it’s pre-recorded content or when publishing a recording of a previous live stream.

“Types of In-stream Ads include Pre-roll Ads (which play before a video starts,), Mid-roll Ads (which play during videos), Image Ads (static image ads that display beneath the content) and Post-roll Ads (ads which appear at the end of videos),” the company explained.

It added that Ads on Facebook Reels integrate seamlessly into original Reels, enabling creators to get paid based on the performance of their original reels while entertaining fans.

What Meta is saying

Commenting on the rollout, Global Partnerships Lead, Africa, Middle East and Turkey (AMET) at Meta, Moon Baz, said:

“Everyday, we’re inspired by the incredible African creators who use Facebook to tell their stories, connect with others and bring people together.

“This expansion will empower eligible creators in the vibrant creative industry across Nigeria and Ghana 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.”

How the payment works

Facebook does not directly pay creators for views in the same way YouTube does. Their monetization system is more complex and revolves around a combination of factors.

Facebook uses an ad revenue sharing model. This means that creators earn a percentage of the revenue generated from ads displayed alongside their content.

 The exact percentage varies depending on factors like the content ‘s engagement, audience demographics, and the ad bids.

Facebook has several monetization programs, such as the Facebook Stars program, which lets fans reward creators with virtual gifts. These stars can then be converted into real money.

Facebook’s payment structure can fluctuate , with changes being made to their algorithms and ad formats over time. The exact amount a creator earns for a thousand views is constantly evolving and can be quite difficult to pinpoint.

Analysts have the amount a content creator earns per 1,000 views (CPM) varies depending on several factors, including Advertiser demand: The higher the demand for ad placements in a particular niche or audience, the higher the CPM will be.

Audience engagement: Videos with high engagement metrics, such as likes, comments, and shares, are more likely to attract advertisers and, therefore, command higher CPMs.

Creator’s location and niche: CPMs can also vary depending on the creator’s location and the niche they operate in. For instance, creators in developed countries and in popular niches may earn higher CPMs than those in developing countries or less popular niches.

Based on available data, the average CPM for Facebook videos in 2023 is around $10 to $19 per 1,000 views. This means that a creator who earns the average CPM could potentially earn $100 to $190 for 10,000 views.

Content creators react

Several content creators took to Facebook to celebrate the development after seeing the approval on their dashboard The implication is that content creators living in Nigeria can now earn advertising revenue from Meta.

Facebook creators in Nigeria can now earn money from ad revenue as the country has become eligible. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, ticked Nigeria blue in the professional dashboard on Thursday, June 27. Before now, content creators with Nigerian addresses were not eligible for Facebook monetisation unless they had a page management based in an eligible country.

However, creators in Nigeria can now monetise their content and earn money through Facebook in-stream ads, live ads, ads on reels, bonuses and subscriptions.

Nigerian creators met the location criteria since the country was approved on Thursday. Some content creators posted on Facebook, celebrating the development as a massive win for Nigeria.

In a post, Praise Chidera Obiora, a story writer on Facebook, congratulated other creators after the approval. He wrote: “Congratulations Nigeria. We are eligible for monetization. It won’t be limited to just Instagram. Nigerian creators eligible to use monetisation products will be able to also monetise on Facebook as well

Nigeria has the largest number of users of Meta platforms, so you can imagine the concerns when other countries with small users were monetized and Nigeria overlooked,” he said

On her part, a content creator, Faith Chibuzor said the news of the imminent monetisation will lead to her renewed interest in posting contents.

She said, “The news of Meta’s impending monetization of the country is a welcomed one as we have been making a case for Nigeria not to be sidelined. As you know, Nigeria leads in everything. Nigeria has the largest number of users of Meta platforms, so you can imagine the concerns when other countries with small users were monetized and Nigeria overlooked.

“It is discouraging because the same Facebook is charging Nigerians N4, 500 on a monthly basis for verification for them to get badges, after their pages must have been verified. So, you can imagine the irony of paying Facebook, while Facebook is using the money you paid them to pay other countries. This was a case the 2023/2024 Facebook Influencer of the Year, Maria Ude Nwachi, has been protesting against because it doesn’t make sense for Meta to ignore the largest users of its platform in Africa as such the development is a welcome one,”

Similarly, an ICT expert, Bashir Musa while commenting on the matter told Daily Trust that the new initiative will complement the federal government’s efforts in job creation especially in the 21st century when ICT is taking over.

“ICT is now the future of the economy, as we diversify from oil and gss amongst others. As such, content creators have ventured into the ICT world, dishing out entertainment and information to their audience through different platforms, including websites, Youtube, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitter, TiktTok, among others. However, many have not been committed as a result of the bias by Meta not to monetise the country,” he said.

“The monetisation simply means content creators being paid for using Meta platforms like Instagram and Facebook to reach out to their audience. For instance, if a comedian, actor, musician or any other celebrity uses his or her page to post videos and news and thousands of fans comment on the post or videos, the celebrity will earn dollars from the number of comments or views,” he added.