By Mark Kawalya
A new campaign has been launched by WhatsApp called the WhatsAppreneurs, which will profile small business owners from Africa that use WhatsApp Business to support their businesses in growing their client bases. The aim of the campaign is to highlight organic stories of African Small and Medium Business owners and support them with skills on business growth opportunities that are available on the WhatsApp Business platform. This will be done through a virtual educational webinar.
Balkissa Ide Siddo, Public Policy Director for Africa, while making comments on the launch noted “Across Africa, small and medium business owners are using the WhatsApp Business app to develop their business, showcase their products, close sales, and connect with their customers. The WhatsApp Business app provides a tool to help businesses thrive in their markets, reach more customers, and grow their businesses consistently. We are delighted to be a part of the success stories of small businesses who are so important to communities across Africa.”
In Africa, small and medium businesses account for a large percentage of the economic population, and this demonstrates tangible potential for opportunity creation, growth, and poverty reduction. This is especially critical now post pandemic, necessitating the need for support using digital tools to enable these businesses to scale their operations.
The WhatsAppreneur campaign is an effort by WhatsApp to aid businesses by providing critical resources that they can use to unlock their growth potential, thereby moving towards a more inclusive and empowered society.
Aside from helping businesses grow, the WhatsApp business app provides a framework through which businesses can develop a deep relationship with their client base due to the real-time one-on-one conversations that are possible via chat.
The WhatsApp business app is free for smartphone users and gives users the option of building a business catalogue that can be viewed by other Whatsapp users.
