More than 150 developers and entrepreneurs gathered for Facebook's first FbStart event in Africa, at the AfricaCom 2016 conference in Cape Town.
FbStart is a global programme designed to help mobile start-ups build and grow their apps. The half-day event saw attendees meet the Facebook team, learn about Facebook platform tools for developers, and see how Facebook works with mobile app start-ups through the FbStart programme.
"It would not be possible for us to accomplish our mission of making the world more open and connected without the help of developers and other partners in our community," said Emeka Afigbo, Facebook's strategic products partnerships manager.
Facebook says it continues to work on its commitment to fostering a strong relationship with its connectivity partners and application developers across Africa.
The social network giant also shared how it is empowering local retailers and entrepreneurs with Internet.org's Express WiFi programme.
Express WiFi empowers local entrepreneurs to provide quality Internet access to their communities and make a steady income. Working with local Internet service providers or mobile operators, they are able to use software provided by Facebook to connect their communities.
The programme is live at 150 locations in five countries across two continents. In Africa, Facebook already has partners in Tanzania, Nigeria and South Africa, with more deployments planned soon, including Ghana.
"This is a sustainable approach to bringing connectivity to underserved communities in countries across Africa - it is a business model that will grow itself because it empowers entrepreneurs to serve their communities," said Chris Daniels, VP of Internet.org at Facebook.
Facebook says the programme has also improved the skills of local entrepreneurs who work with Facebook and its ISP partners to build, install and maintain local WiFi networks.
"We're encouraged by the progress we've made ? but also inspired by what we've seen in the community," said Daniels.
"Only half of the planet is on the Internet - our aim with Internet.org is to connect the other half through initiatives such as Free Basics, solar-powered airplanes, satellites, and our exciting new programme, Express WiFi. According to the ITU [International Telecommunication Union], Internet penetration in Africa is now at 28%, but there is so much more do be done," added Daniels.
"It's exciting to see local economies transformed by connectivity as people use the Internet to enhance existing businesses or create new ones."
Also this week, Facebook announced it is now releasing its population density map data to the public.
Government policymakers, academics and local organisations will all benefit from access to this rich dataset, with potential applications such as socio-economic research, infrastructure planning and risk assessment for natural disasters.
To start, Facebook has shared datasets for Malawi, South Africa, Ghana, Haiti and Sri Lanka, and they can be found on the Web site of CIESIN at Columbia University. More countries will be added over the coming months.