Facebook’s founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday that the social media giant is committing $200 million to support black businesses and organizations.

“We’ve been speaking with Black business owners to understand how we can best support them, and in the short term, we’ve heard that financial support can go a long way, especially during a pandemic and economic downturn that have disproportionately impacted communities of color,” Zuckerberg said.

Facebook has come under severe criticism for refusing to take down Donald Trump’s post encouraging shooting of protesters of racial injustice in the United States. Though Zuckerberg repeatedly tried to explain that the post didn’t violate any Facebook policy, it didn’t quell the backlash. Many are beginning to see the social media platform as pro right-wing, an identity Zuckerberg doesn’t want to reckon with, and he is trying desperately to right the seeming wrong.

On Wednesday, Facebook removed some ads featuring a large inverted red triangle associated with the Nazis. Trump and the pro right-wing have used the symbol in the smear campaign against antifa and “far-left mobs” who he claimed are destroying American cities.

The ads were posted on Team Trump and Mike Pence’s pages as part of a campaign to defame antifa, an antifascist organization fighting right-wing oppression. Trump had earlier threatened to declare them a terrorist organization for their activism.

A Facebook spokesman told the Independent that the ads were removed because it violated the company’s policy against organized hate.

“We removed these posts and ads for violating our policy against organized hate. Our policy prohibits using a banned hate group’s symbol to identify political prisoners without the context that condemns or discusses the symbol,” he said.

But it is believed to have been removed as a result of intense criticism that Facebook has been subjected to recently, as some of the ads remained online for more than a day and recorded thousands of impressions.

Zuckerberg said the social media giants plan to give $1 billion to Black-owned businesses and cause from now to 2021.

“We’re building on our COVID-19 grant program and making an additional $100 million in cash and ad credits available to support Black-owned businesses, creators and non-profits serving Black communities in the US. To make sure we are supporting the community in our own business practices, we’re also committing to spend at least $100 million with Black-owned suppliers, part of a goal to spend $1 billion with diverse suppliers next year and every year thereafter,” he said.

Many see the gesture as a way of trying to make amends for allowing Facebook to be used in promotion of racial hatred.

On the other hand, Google has also rolled out plans backed up with over $175 million divided into segments to support many aspects of Blacks’ welfare. Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai released a note on Wednesday, outlining the plan.

Google will spend over $175 million on racial equity efforts, including financing Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs, says CEO Sundar Pichai. As demonstrations for racial justice take place across the country, the search giant also announced plans to increase its proportion of “leadership representation of underrepresented groups” by 30% by 2025. The move comes after Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin pledged $40 million each to Spelman College, Morehouse College and the United Negro College Fund in the biggest-ever individual donation to the historically Black institutions.

“As a company, and as individuals who came here to build helpful products for everyone, Google commits to translating the energy of this moment into lasting, meaningful change. Today we are announcing a set of concrete commitments to move that work forward; internally, to build sustainable equity for Google’s Black+ community, and externally, to make our products and programs helpful in the moments that matter most to Black users,” the note said partly.

Pichai said part of the plan will be to improve Black+ representation at senior levels and committing to a goal to improve leadership representation of underrepresented groups by 30 percent by 2025.

‘$100 million is dedicated in funding participation in Black-led capital firms, startups and organizations supporting Black entrepreneurs, which includes increased investments in Plexo Capital and non-dilutive funding to Black founders in the Google for startups network.’

‘$50 million is for financing and grants for small businesses, focused on the Black community and in partnership with Opportunity Finance Network.

‘$15 million is for training, through partners like the National Urban League, to help Black Jobseekers grow their skills.’

‘$10 million+ is to help improve the Black community’s access to education, equipment and economic opportunities in our developer ecosystem, and increase equity, representation and inclusion across our developer platforms, including Android, Chrome, Flutter, Firebase, Google play and more.’

Pichai said that in addition to these grants, Google will continue to support racial justice organizations. Google had earlier pledged $32 million in support of criminal justice reform, but said it would make additional $12 million to advance the cause.

Orange, French largest telecom company, is making plans to enter the Nigerian and South African markets. This was announced days ago by the CEO Stephane Richard, who said the company would make its move into Nigeria and South Africa in coming months.

“It could make sense to be in economies such as Nigeria and South Africa. If one considers there are things to do, the time frame I’m considering is rather a few months than a few years,” he told the press.

Earlier in the year, Orange opened a regional headquarters for Africa and Middle East in Casablanca Morocco, signaling its interest to increase its presence in the region, particularly Africa. The telco has seen growth in its operation in the Middle East and it’s working to do the same in Africa, targeting the largest economies in the continent.

Orange has operations in 18 countries in the Middle East and Africa that have proved to be the fastest growing market in its grip.

Revenues in the region have a record of 6.2% in the first quarter of 2020. Orange has recorded an average annual growth of 6% in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region since 2015. For these reasons, the telco decided to give the region more autonomy to foster the growth.

Orange has continued to deploy the 4G technology in the MEA, reaching 26.5 million customers, 50.6% more than a year ago.

However, its interest in South Africa and Nigeria poses concern on whether it could usurp the reign of existing telcos in the countries. MTN leads with the highest subscribers’ base in Nigeria and South Africa, while the others have over time amassed enormous numbers of subscribers.

The number of GSM subscribers in Nigeria as of March 2020 stood at 188,989,051, according to data published by the Nigeria Communication Commission. Given a population of 203 million, Orange will find it difficult to disrupt the status quo as most Nigerians are already attached to existing telecom companies.

But Orange knows this, and has come with a plan. At the inauguration of the headquarters in Casablanca, Richard said the potential the telecom operator sees in the African telecom industry goes beyond voice calls and internet data. He said that mobile money is an example of digital transformation that needs to be developed in the African continent.

“Orange is one of the rare international groups to have made the strategic choice, 20 years ago, to seek to develop in Africa and Middle East. We have also always been convinced of the immense potential of this continent. In many ways, it can be seen as a model for digital transformation; mobile money is a great example of this.

“One of the key success factors behind new services is to develop them in Africa so that they are adapted to specific local requirements and so meet the needs of our customers. That is why we decided to organize the management of our business in Africa and the Middle East from within the region directly from the African continent,” he said.

Orange has been investing $1.1 billion in the MEA yearly as part of its Engage 2025 plan. The Engage 2025 plan involves a multi-services strategy aimed at diversifying their operation to represent 20% of the business at the end of 2025. The company hopes to derive $1 billion in revenue while it works to develop its energy and e-health services.

However, financial services have become paramount in its strategy to penetrate more African markets. The telco is planning to introduce Orange Credit in every country of the MEA region where it is operational, and it hopes to use its banking system to facilitate Orange Money payment services.

While the telecom industry appears to be all taken in Nigeria, the fintech industry is still open and offers amazing opportunities to operators who wish to offer financial services. MTN Nigeria happens to be the only telco in the country that has pushed itself to the limelight with its MoMo financial services. Airtel, Glo and 9mobile are struggling to find their footing, which leaves the sector ripe and open for Orange.

Moreover, the number of unbanked and financially underserved people in Nigeria and the rest of the continent is economically viable for companies that want to pitch their trade in the fintech industry.

It is said that in every disadvantage, there is an advantage. And that in every circumstance there is a benefit. These inspirational sayings have proved themselves to be true during this COVID-19 period. As some businesses register losses, others gather in profits. While some people lost their jobs, many found better paying ones. Factories were shut down and the poisonous gases they emitted were put on hold. Animals that went into hiding in order to avoid human predators came into the open and took over streets, roads and beaches. In fact, like someone said, the planet Earth is healing itself through COVID-19.

Coming to the human world, a lot of families took the period of the lockdown to “meet” their members. Before the Corona Era, most parents wake up early in the morning and “run-off” before their children wake-up and then come back late at night when the children must have gone to bed. Even busy spouses did not have time to know each other because they hardly stay at home together. But as Corona came, everyone was forced to take a break and look around him or her. The Corona Era is indeed a time for several positive, as well as negative, changes.

Among the people that benefited much from this era are the children. Even as adults worry about children not going to school, they (the children) were home enjoying themselves. Most of these children are experiencing, for the first time in their lives, the joy of spending hours with their parents. Many of them are just experiencing what the term “holiday” truly means. Unlike before, when parents bundle their children away to one private lesson or another, the children now sit back at home from morning till night without the stress of learning in a formal environment. Believe me, if this lockdown continues for another two months or more, most children will not want to go back to school. We have actually saturated their brains with different forms of academic activities that they found the “holiday” experience exhilarating.

Specifically, the children benefited the following from this lockdown:

• More Time to Play and Explore

Naturally, children are meant to play. In fact, they are supposed to learn through playing. But we have placed a lot of burden on their fragile shoulders and have turned most of them into miniature adults that they have not really known what it means to be children. Thank God for this illness, these children can now play to their satisfaction, explore their surroundings and “spoil” things like it’s expected of their age.

• Learning More about their Environment

Many times, contents of an academic curriculum do not teach children everything they need to know about their environments and their places within the environment. This could be linked to the fact that curriculums are not tailored to meet specific needs of different environments. However, during this lockdown period, most children had the opportunity to read up materials that are outside the ones used in their schools and to ask trusted adults questions that have been bothering them. They found out a lot of things that they wouldn’t have been taught in school. They learnt things informally, which makes it more impactful.

• Bonding with Parents

Parents were forced to stay back at home and therefore couldn’t help but enjoy their children. Permit me to say that many parents used this period to understand who their children really are. When the economy started to reopen, most mothers felt guilty leaving their children with their helps as they went back to work. This will just tell you how they have been able to bond with their children during the lockdown.

• Resting and Sleeping

Sometimes I marvel at how my children could sleep till 9am these days. Ordinarily they wake up by 5.30am to get ready for school. Even during the short holidays, they find it hard to sleep till 7am because I have to wake them up early so I can sort them out and leave for work. But right now, they are resting; and it is good for their growth and development.

• Eating Better Meals

I know that Indomie and other noodle companies will feel the impact of this lockdown. A friend of mine confessed that she now has ample time to cook a proper meal for her family. Before, parents find it easier to boil a pack of noodles or prepare a bowl of cereal for their children as breakfast and/or lunch. But that is not the case right now. To be honest, the aromas I perceive from my neighbours’ kitchens now suggest that our traditional foods are the order of the day.

I know that many parents have gone back to work and that the children are once again left with relatives and help. It is, however, necessary that these children be allowed to flex their muscles the more since schools may reopen anytime soon. No one knows how long the next term and the term after that will run. For that, let us allow these children to be children and enjoy all the benefits that come with being children.