Facebook announced Monday that its service now has 100 million monthly users in Africa.
80 percent of these users were revealed to use their mobile phones to access the site, according to TechCrunch. The 100 million users make up 50 percent of all African citizens who have Internet connection.
The announcement comes as Facebook looks to use drones to bring the social network to areas around the world with little to no access to the Internet, such as South America and India.
Facebook's previous efforts for global Internet access include its introduction of the Internet.org app in Zambia in Southern Africa in June, Mashable reported. The Android app has provided locals with access to Facebook, Wikipedia, Google Search, and other Internet services.
With Internet.org, Zambian residents also have access to local resources about human rights, women's rights, and civic engagement, TechCrunch reported.
The high cost of data plans plays a large role in the lack of Internet usage in Africa, and Facebook plans to solve this problem by developing free Internet carrier deals. Other methods the company looks to use include making Internet.org smaller so it is cheaper to download, as well as offering users "click to missed calls" so they can get more information from advertisers.
"We know that a one-size-fits-all approach won't work when it comes to building products and solutions that address diverse local needs around the world, which is why we're committed to crafting solutions specifically for high-growth markets," the company wrote.
The announcement also follows a month after Facebook started to let advertisers around the world target users based on their connection speeds, which the company said is important for technologically developing countries like Africa, The Wall Street Journal reported. The social network also said it is focused on educating advertisers in developing markets about the services it offers.
"The product is evolving a lot. We're taking the high-growth ad team into different markets to do that research," said Nicola Mendelsohn, vice president of Facebook EMEA.
The company is also looking to open an office in Africa next year.
