Facebook Inc. has disclosed plans to offer $100 million in grants and ad credits, as the novel Coronavirus ravages around the globe.
In order to address the economic impacts of the pandemic, Facebook will make the grants and ad credits available for up to 30,000 Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in over 30 countries.
It was gathered that the majority of the beneficiaries would get a cash grant.
Facebook will disclose any moment from now, how businesses can apply for the assistance regarding the offers.
READ MORE: Facebook to award $3 million in Community Accelerator program
In a post made available to the public, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, said the economic disruption poses a severe risk to small businesses.
Sandberg’s post read, “We’ve listened to small businesses to understand how we can best help them. We’ve heard loud and clear that financial support could enable them to keep the lights on and pay people who can’t come to work.”
Sandberg said companies would be able to use cash to pay rent, cover operational costs or run advertising on Facebook. She added that Facebook was going to make it easier for small businesses to get training and support from its teams.
Meanwhile, Nigeria has confirmed five new cases of the coronavirus.
The new cases brought the total confirmed cases in Nigeria to 8. Four of these cases are in the Centre of Excellence, Lagos State, while one is in Ekiti.
(READ ALSO: Nigeria could slide into recession due to Coronavirus, PEAC warns)
“Of the five new positive cases, 3 of them arrived from the United States of America while 2 came in from the United Kingdom. We are still collating information from the travellers, but we know that two of the cases of the US are Nigerians, a mother, and 6-week old baby, making this baby the youngest case of COVID-19 in Nigeria.
“The third case is an American tourist who crossed the land border and became the first covid19 case that did not arrive by air. The two cases from the United kingdom are both Nigerians,” Minister for Health, Osagie Ehanire was quoted as saying.
