Oluwasola Obagbemi is the Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa at Meta. She oversees external communications on the continent for Meta across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. At the recently held 2025 Lagos Fashion Week, Facebook celebrated the intersection of fashion, creativity, and community. Obagbemi shares insights on Nigeria’s growing fashion ecosystem, the tools empowering creators and small brands, and its long-term commitment to helping young Africans turn creativity into opportunity. Prosper Taiwo brings the excerpts:
Facebook is part of this year’s Lagos Fashion Week, one of Africa’s biggest cultural moments. Why is this space important for Facebook to show up in right now?
Facebook is a leading place for conversations around cultural moments, not just in Nigeria but across the globe. Every day, more young adults come to Facebook to explore the world around them, connect with others and navigate different stages of their lives. Additionally, fashion has become the largest category on Facebook Marketplace in Nigeria, with more young people turning to the platform for everything from clothes and shoes to jewellery. With events like Lagos Fashion Week, we wanted to highlight how our platform brings people together to celebrate creativity, culture and community in real-time.
Facebook helps build meaningful connections and community. How was this brought to life as an experience for people with Facebook communities at Lagos Fashion Week?
At Lagos Fashion Week 2025, we wanted to bring Facebook closer to the people and highlight it as a culturally relevant platform. Aligned with our theme, “Where Community Meets Culture,” we created the Facebook Lounge — a space where creators, celebrities, and young adults came together to connect, collaborate, and celebrate shared passions. The experience brought our community values to life and reflected our commitment to helping creators build deeper, more meaningful connections with their audiences.
What trends has Facebook identified around fashion among Nigerian audiences?
We’re seeing incredible engagement around fashion in Nigeria. Fashion is the largest category on Marketplace in Nigeria. There are millions of Fashion listings on Facebook Marketplace Nigeria and those items make up a fifth of Marketplace’s available inventory in the country. Beyond buying and selling, people are also using Groups, Reels and Pages to share style inspiration, discover trends and build communities around their love for fashion.
What tools or features can creators and small fashion brands use on Facebook to reach new audiences?
Creators and small fashion brands are using a range of Facebook tools to reach and grow their audiences in meaningful ways. Marketplace has become a key space for showcasing products and driving discovery, especially as fashion is now the largest category on Facebook Marketplace in Nigeria. Reels help them bring their stories to life through short, engaging videos. At the same time, Groups create opportunities to build communities around shared interests and styles. Together, these tools make it easier for creators and businesses to connect with people who love what they do and turn that passion into real opportunities.
For creators, visibility is everything. How is Facebook helping them meaningfully connect and go deeper with their audience?
It’s a great time to be a creator. On Facebook, you’re not restricted to connecting with your audience in one way. You can creatively express yourself through a range of content formats, including photos, text, videos and long-form video, as well as Live and Reels, in either the Feed or Stories.
Looking ahead, what’s next for Facebook in connecting Africa’s young adults, creators and businesses to global opportunities?
We’ll continue to invest in programs that empower young Africans to tell their stories and grow their ideas. Whether through creative tools like Reels, business features like Marketplace or new steps aimed at reducing spammy content to improve the Facebook Feed experience and support creators who share original, engaging content, our focus remains the same: helping people explore their interests and connect with the world beyond their close friends.
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