Facebook announced today the launch of Marketplace in 37 countries and territories in sub-Saharan Africa.
Currently available in South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Nigeria, Marketplace is a convenient place where people can discover, buy, and sell items from others in their local community, simply by tapping on the Marketplace icon or visiting www.facebook.com/marketplace to browse and search for items, or filter by distance or category.
Kojo Boakye, Facebook's Director of Public Policy for Africa, commented on the launch: "Expanding Marketplace's availability to 37 additional countries and territories in sub-Saharan Africa reinforces our ongoing commitment to helping connect communities and supporting buying and selling through a simple online destination. As the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to impact people and businesses, the expansion of Marketplace will provide more people with a convenient place to discover new products, buy the things they want, or find buyers for the things they want to sell."
Discovering items on Facebook Marketplace is simple. To access it, just look for the Marketplace icon in the Facebook app or visit facebook.com/marketplace. They can browse listings that interest them and filter them by distance or category. They can also use the search field to find exactly what they're looking for.
Listing an item for sale is just as easy as searching for it on Marketplace. Sellers can share a photo of an item, enter a product name, description, and price, confirm their location, and select a category. They can also choose to post their listings in Facebook buy and sell groups. Interested buyers will find the item they are looking for and send a message to sellers directly via Messenger. They can choose the payment method based on their preferences.
The following countries are included in the rollout of Facebook's marketplace: Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Eswatini, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Western Sahara, and Zimbabwe.