WhatsApp has launched a campaign termed ‘WhatsAppreneurs’ to assist business owners in Africa to reach more target customers. The messaging and video calling platform, a subsidiary of Meta, announced its new advocacy service in a statement issued by Public Policy Director for WhatsApp Africa, Balkissa Siddo. Siddo said the campaign would highlight the stories of small and medium business (SMB) owners in Africa and help them learn more about growth opportunities available with the WhatsApp Business app through a virtual educational webinar.

The statement read: “Across Africa, SMB owners are using the WhatsApp Business app to develop their businesses, 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 that are so important to communities across Africa. “As SMBs represent a sizable percentage of the economic population demonstrating great potential for growth, opportunity creation, and overcoming poverty postpandemic, there is a need to provide support through digital tools to help them scale.”

The policy director said the WhatsAppreneur campaign served the purpose of providing the resources businesses needed to unlock their growth potential and help build a more resilient, inclusive, and empowered society. Aside from helping businesses grow, Siddo said the WhatsApp business app, would also provide an opportunity for businesses to create a much deeper and stronger relationship with their customers.

He said the app was free and allowed users to create a business catalogue on WhatsApp that could be viewed by users from anywhere. Earlier in 2018, WhatsApp platform launched the WhatsApp Business App aimed at smaller businesses that want to establish an official presence on WhatsApp’s service and connect with customers. The app provided a set of features not available to users of the free WhatsApp messaging app, like support automated quick replies, greeting messages, FAQs, away messaging and statistics, among others. The social media platform had also in May 2022 opened its Cloud API for all businesses globally in a push to drive efficient communications for businesses of all sizes. This is expected to allow businesses and developers build on top of WhatsApp to customise their experiences and respond to customers quickly and easily.