Cross-border business is an opportunity for digital entrepreneurs

REACHING customers in new countries is no longer the sole preserve of big and experienced companies. Digital technologies enable businesses of all sizes to be multinational and unlock the door to cross-border and international trade.

Just in Africa alone, small businesses can tap into an export market of 1.2 million people.

To have a lasting economic impact, create more jobs and enhance Africa’s overall competitiveness, start-ups and small companies need to prosper and take full advantage of the possibilities of digital technologies to improve their efficiency and productivity, as well as to reach customers and make sales beyond borders.

Having worked with so many fantastic small companies during my time at Facebook, I know there’s a huge opportunity for SMEs to reap the rewards of connecting with more and more people in different countries. More than 1 billion people on Facebook are connected to a business outside their own country.

How Africa’s SMEs can succeed and grow is a central concern for us at Facebook. We measure our success by our ability to create more value for the economy as a whole.

At the heart of this lies our work with small businesses, particularly those exciting companies who are innovating, growing and contributing so much to the continent. Nunu Ntshingila is the regional director of Facebook Africa.