Facebook Expands Coronavirus Information Centre to 24 More African Countries

Facebook has expanded its Coronavirus Information Centre to 24 more countries in Africa as part of its on-going commitment to empowering people around the world with timely and accurate news from trusted health authorities.

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information Centre is featured at the top of News Feed and provides a central place for people to keep informed about the Coronavirus.

It includes real-time updates from national official sources, regional and global organizations such as the Africa Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization as well as helpful resources – articles, videos and posts – and tips about social distancing and preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Facebook users can opt-in to the Centre to get notifications and see updates in their News Feed from official government, regional or global health authorities.

Kojo Boakye, Facebook Director of Public Policy, Africa, says: “Facebook is supporting the public health community’s work across the world to keep all communities informed during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are happy to provide nearly every country in Sub-Saharan Africa with its own Information Centre so people across the continent have a central place to find authoritative information around COVID-19.”

He said the additional countries where Facebook was launching the Coronavirus Information Centre included: Botswana, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini and Gambia.

Boakye said other countries are: Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, RwandaSao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

“The Coronavirus Information Centre is already in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Gabon. “Others are Guinea, Kenya, Mali Mauritania, Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal , Seychelles, South Africa, The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Togo,” Boakye said.