Facebook rolled out a new initiative on Monday to help small and medium-sized businesses in the Middle East and North Africa do more online as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect sales.
The social media giant has launched a hub for SMBs that will provide regional small businesses with financial support and business advice through webinars under its #LoveLocal campaign.
“Small businesses are the backbone of any economy and pillars of the local communities,” Ramez Shehadi, the company’s managing director for the Mena region, said.
“In these challenging times, SMBs need help from community members ... [the] campaign is aimed at supporting local businesses and driving communities that will help SMBs grow during these unprecedented times,” said Mr Shehadi.
Facebook, which has more than 2.6 billion users globally, did not disclose the scale of financial assistance that it will offer to regional businesses as part of the campaign.
The global economy is facing its deepest recession since the Great Depression and is forecast to contract 5.2 per cent this year due to the economic fallout from the pandemic, according to the World Bank.
More than a quarter of SMBs around the world closed their doors at some stage in the first five months of the year due to Covid-19, according to a survey by Facebook, the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. SMBs differ from SMEs by employment, with the former often relying on part-time workers or outsourced staff and the latter employing full-time workers.
In the Mena region, seven out of 10 SMBs reported lower sales, with about 40 per cent reducing their workforce as a result of the pandemic, the report said.
“It is now clear that the only way for SMBs to survive the pandemic is to pivot to digital. Entrepreneurs can register for free online courses to receive insights on Facebook’s services and tools that can help them boost leads and online sales,” Mr Shehadi said.
SMBs using the hub will gain free access to nearly 40 webinars covering subjects such as digital marketing and e-commerce.
“They can learn how to best use free Facebook and Instagram tools to connect with customers and the business community in these challenging times,” the company said.
Courses have been developed in partnership with leading e-commerce companies and Facebook partners from around the region. These include Cairo’s Expand Cart, Beirut-based e-commerce platform ecomz and Riyadh-based Zid, an e-commerce management platform.
Last month, Facebook said it will offer Dh2 million in cash grants and credits to more than 155 Dubai SMBs as part of a Dh367m pledge announced in March to help 30,000 SMBs in over 30 countries.
Companies eligible for grants should be for-profit businesses with between two and 50 employees and have been trading for more than a year.
In May, Facebook rolled out a Dh2.75m fund to support Mena's news industry during the ongoing pandemic. In the same month, it launched Shops – an e-commerce platform – to allow more companies to make digital transactions.
