Meta Celebrates Africa’s ‘Rising Stars’ in its 2023 ‘Made by Africa, Loved by the World’ Campaign

Meta has announced the third iteration of its pan-African ‘Made by Africa, Loved by the World’ campaign. Themed “Rising Stars”, this year’s edition aims to amplify the voices and stories of eight rising talents from across Africa, who are building a global presence and changing the way Africa is viewed on the international stage.

Representing several creative industries ranging from music, fashion, lifestyle, to art, this year’s self-shot ‘vlog-styled’ short stories provide a glimpse of the creators’ world and highlights how being African inspires their creativity. Alongside this, Meta is running a dedicated community Reels challenge – #ShareYourAfrica #AfricaMade, encouraging the African community on Instagram to celebrate their authenticity – whether through dance, music, fashion, food or art. For Africa Day Meta will be holding a fireside chat with a selection of key figures from across the continent – exploring the global impact of Africa’s youth and how platforms like Instagram are helping to fuel their global appeal.

Director of Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa, Meta, Kezia Anim-Addo
Director of Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa, Meta, Kezia Anim-Addo

According to the Director of Communications, Sub-Saharan Africa, Meta, Kezia Anim-Addo, “We’re thrilled to celebrate Africa Day this year by amplifying the stories of just some of our talented rising stars from across the continent who are shining a spotlight on African culture, music, food, dance, fashion, and so much more in their own voices. Every day, we see young African creatives use Meta technologies, like Instagram and Facebook, to share their stories, express themselves, and bring people together in incredible and inspiring ways. We’re proud that our technologies have a role to play in amplifying these voices and stories, both locally and globally.”

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The Rising Stars: Made by Africa, Loved by the World

Available to view on Instagram on each creator’s page as well as on the Meta Africa Facebook Page are the stories of:

Henry Ohanga (Kenya): An award-winning recording and performing artist, popularly known as Octopizzo, who is using his talents to inspire change in art, music, sports and culture.

Fhatuwani Mukheli (South Africa): An internationally exhibited visual artist, filmmaker and photographer passionate about healing people through visual arts.

Jacqueline Acheampong – Gyakie (Ghana): A singer, songwriter, and performer whose music features catchy melodies and infectious beats. With several performances in Ghana and across the world, she has clinched multiple local and international awards.

Enioluwa Adeoluwa (Nigeria): A fashion and lifestyle influencer who has carved a niche in the fashion industry, collaborated with international brands, and built a strong community of GenZ fans around the world.

Njang Mengu Collins (Cameroon): A singer and rapper popularly known as Ko-C, who combines a distinctive fusion of Afropop and hip-hop with his songs successes having led to several international nominations.

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Qhamanande Maswana (South Africa): A visual artist celebrated internationally who effortlessly blends reality with imagination in each portrait, often depicting the beauty and challenges of everyday life in South Africa.

Fena Gitu (Kenya): A renowned female “Urban Soul” singer, songwriter and producer who has partnered with local and global artists. She has received several recognitions for her phenomenal work in the music industry and continues to be appreciated beyond Kenyan borders.

Adesokan Emmanuel – Shanks Comics (Nigeria) A social media comic, skit maker, content creator, brand influencer and media personality who believes in the power of storytelling.

2025

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Meta to Make Decision on Trump’s Return to Facebook

Donald Trump

Facebook owner Meta has said it would make a decision on whether to allow the former president Trump to return to Facebook later in the month.

Meta has set up a working group to focus on the matter, according to people with knowledge of its operations, the report said, adding that the group includes staffers from the public policy and communications teams, as well as from the content policy team.

The development comes after Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, revoked a permanent ban on Trump in November last year on the social media platform after polling users.

Donald Trump
Donald Trump

“I don’t see any reason for it,” the former president had said via video when asked whether he planned to return to Twitter by a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting.

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Trump has mounted relentless attacks on the integrity of U.S. voting since his 2020 election defeat and launched a bid in November to regain the presidency in 2024, aiming to pre-empt potential Republican rivals.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

As Sheryl Sandberg Steps Down as Meta COO

Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down as COO, one of the highest-ranking executives of Meta, after 14 years of having worked with the company. According to The Verge, she will retain her seat on Meta’s board. Mark Zuckerberg reportedly has no plans to replace her role as it currently exists either.

Sandberg joined the now successful tech company in 2008 to work hand-in-hand with Zuckerberg, who is the founder of the company. Her exit comes as the company shifts to focus on the metaverse, a simulated digital environment that uses virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), blockchain, and concepts from social media to create spaces mimicking the real world.

Sheryl Sandberg
Sheryl Sandberg

Facebook rebranded to Meta in October 2021.

“Sitting by Mark’s side for these 14 years has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime. Mark is a true visionary and a caring leader. He sometimes says that we grew up together, and we have,” Sandberg wrote in an emotional Facebook post.

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Sandberg started working with Zuckerberg when he was only 23 years old when the company was still in its developing stages. She was 38 years old at the time. She describes Zuckerberg as a true visionary and a caring leader.

“When I joined Facebook, I had a two-year-old son and a six-month-old daughter. I did not know if this was the right time for a new and demanding role. The messages were everywhere that women – and I – could not be both a leader and a good mother, but I wanted to give it a try,” she recounted the time she joined Facebook.

“Once I started, I realized that to see my children before they went to sleep, I had to leave the office at 5:30 p.m., which was when work was just getting going for many of my new colleagues. In my previous role at Google, there were enough people and buildings that leaving early wasn’t noticed, but Facebook was a small startup and there was nowhere to hide,” she said.

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“The end of an era. In the 14 years we’ve worked together, you’ve architected our ads business, hired great people, forged our management culture, and taught me how to run a company,” Zuckerberg said.

Sandberg will be working with Zuckerberg to transition her direct reports and she will leave the company around “fall,” she said.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Facebook to Stop Hiring New Employees

David Wehner, CFO for Meta

The Meta-owned social media platform Facebook, has announced that it is pausing on hiring, according to an internal memo that was first seen by the Business Insider on Wednesday. The source quoted the company’s CFO David Wehner as saying that this implementation is part of the company’s “reprioritisation” as it tackles challenges that caused it to miss revenue targets.

Facebook’s global head of recruiting, Miranda Kalinowski, said that the engineering team would be the first to be impacted by these hiring decisions. This was included in a separate memo that was also seen by the Business Insider.

David Wehner, CFO for Meta
David Wehner, CFO for Meta

A worker at Facebook said that the last time something of this sort was done it was at the start of the pandemic as the company scrambled to put in place processes to onboard new hires.

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“The company regularly re-evaluates its hiring and according to our business needs and in light of the expense guidance given for this earnings period, we are slowing its growth accordingly,” a Meta spokesperson said.

“We will continue to grow our workforce to ensure we focus on long-term impact,” the spokesperson added.

David Wehner, CFO for Meta, said that the company is trying to “bring the metaverse to life”, which is pretty much what Facebook has been about since they rebranded to Meta.

“But we also have to be responsible by responding to the unpredictable market forces that have put pressure on our business over the past few months,” he said.

“As economies reopen after COVID-related lockdowns more people are spending time offline and returning to pre-pandemic spending patterns. That’s causing an industry-wide downturn,” Wehner added.

Kalinowski and Wehner said that they are still trying to figure out what the freeze means for other teams since the engineering team will be the first one to be impacted. They said that the implementation will, however, affect almost every team in the company.

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They pointed out that one team that won’t be immediately impacted is Reality Labs, the loss-making unit in charge of building the metaverse.

“We will continue to actively hire for ML IC5+ candidates and IC7+ candidates across all SWE areas and will pause Director openings to assess our needs on a case by case basis,” Kalinowski said.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Meta Set for Showdown with Regulator over Giphy Acquisition

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

The  battle between global tech platform Meta and United Kingdom’s regulatory agency over the former’s acquisition of Giphy will reach a head this week at the tech giant attempts to overturn a controversial order to sell off Giphy, in a four-day trial that’ll mark the biggest antitrust court clash in the UK this year.

The Competition and Markets Authority’s decision to unwind the US$315-million GIF search engine deal was slammed by Meta as “grossly unreasonable and disproportionate”.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

Lawyers for Meta will try to appeal on six grounds, including arguing the order to sell was flawed because the CMA didn’t prove that Giphy could have become a meaningful competitor to Meta’s Facebook, according to documents prepared for trial. The CMA doesn’t often lose at the CAT, as the tribunal will only look at the legality of the CMA’s decision

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The CMA told Meta to sell Giphy after an in-depth investigation concluded in November that the tie-up would allow Meta to increase its power on social media further. It was the first time a global regulator forced a Big Tech firm to unwind a completed deal and the UK was the only major regulator to take a stance on the acquisition.

The dispute underscores the CMA’s increased appetite to intervene in both digital markets and merger control with its desire to crack down on so-called “killer acquisitions” from Big Tech. The CMA and other global regulators have publicly expressed regret on waving through mergers like Meta’s purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp, with the US currently taking another look at those deals.

The CMA doesn’t often lose at the CAT, as the tribunal will only look at the legality of the CMA’s decision rather than the probe itself.

“It’s difficult to overturn a CMA merger decision,” said Tom Smith, a competition lawyer at Geradin Partners, who was a former director at the CMA. “These cases often turn on seemingly minor procedural issues, but the big-picture question is whether the tribunal at some point decides that the CMA has pushed the use of its discretion past its legal limits.”

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“By requiring Meta to sell Giphy, we are promoting competition and innovation in digital advertising and ensuring rival social media providers can get competitive access to Giphy’s services,” a CMA spokesman said. “We intend to defend this decision vigorously.”  

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry