Kenyan content creators can now earn from Facebook videos

President William Ruto has confirmed that Kenyan content creators can now monetise and earn from the videos they post on their Facebook accounts. This development is expected to improve incomes for the Kenyan creative industry and create job opportunities.

In a post on his X account, Ruto stated, "Beginning today, Kenyan content creators can monetise their videos on Meta platforms. We urge our creatives to take advantage of this opportunity to not only enhance their incomes but also create job opportunities for others."

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, announced on Tuesday that features such as In-Stream Ads on Facebook and Facebook Ads on Reels will enable creators to earn money by producing original videos and building their communities.

This announcement follows Ruto's declaration in December last year during the Jamuhuri Day celebrations that he had spoken with Meta, and the company had agreed to let content creators monetise their content.

In March this year, Ruto met several Kenyan content creators and officials from Meta. During this meeting, he secured a commitment from Meta to start the monetisation process.

Although the process was promised to begin in June, it did not materialise until now. A fact check by the Eastleigh Voice confirmed that Facebook accounts with a good audience could monetise from Tuesday.

Beginning today, Kenyan content creators can monetize their videos on Meta platforms.

We urge our creatives to take advantage of this opportunity to not only enhance their incomes but also create job opportunities for others.

We will continue to seek more opportunities for our…

— William Samoei Ruto, PhD (@WilliamsRuto) August 6, 2024

Eligible online creators in Kenya will be able to earn from their video content with support in over 30 languages globally, including Swahili.

Kenya is now one of the 12 African countries where Meta shares revenue earned from advertisements with creators. The other countries include Egypt, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, and Seychelles, among others.

Moon Baz, Meta's global partnerships lead for Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey, said, "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."

To use these monetisation features, creators must comply with Facebook's Partner Monetisation Policies and Content Monetisation Policies. Additionally, they must be at least 18 years old.

To monetise their content on Facebook, creators must have 5,000 followers on the platform and achieve 60,000 total viewership over the last two months.

Facebook is the most popular social application in Kenya, used by at least 52 per cent of Kenyans above 15 years old, according to the Community Authority of Kenya.

Until now, YouTube and X have been the only social media applications that allowed Kenyans to earn from sharing revenues from advertisements.

This development marks a step forward for the Kenyan creative industry, providing new avenues for content creators to earn and expand their reach.