Meta’s Ad-Free Subscription in the UK – What It Could Mean for Kenyans

 

Meta is set to offer an ad-free subscription for users in the UK. This comes after the parent company, Meta, was issued with regulatory warnings about personalised ads in which Meta used users' data to produce targeted ads.

Meta will charge users £2.99 per month for web users and £3.99 per month on iOS and Android in the UK.

Meta has not confirmed whether this subscription will be available globally, but if it is, it could have both positive and negative effects on many users.

My main concern about this subscription is its potential impact if it were to be rolled out in Kenya.

Many small businesses in Kenya invest heavily in advertising their products, but if people are willing to pay to view those ads, the subscription could significantly affect their profitability.

Why Ads Matter in Kenya

According to recent statistics, Facebook ad reach in Kenya increased by 2.05 million, representing a 15.7 percent increase between January 2024 and 2025.

 

On the other hand, Instagram's ad reach is equivalent to 5.5 percent of the total population, and the Kenyan population is 56.43 million, so this means that Instagram’s ad reach would be approximately 3.1 million people.

Summing both Facebook ad reach and Instagram ad reach gives you a total of 5.15 million, which is a high number.

A few months ago, I wanted to buy a laptop, and I came across some ads on Instagram for people selling laptops.

I ended up clicking on those ads and visiting their websites. While ads can often be annoying, those laptop ads really caught my attention, and I ended up purchasing a laptop through one of them.

If the subscription was introduced in Kenya, many small businesses that rely on these ads to promote their products would really struggle, as these ads help people discover new products, especially in fashion, food, and electronics.

Potential Impact on Kenyan Businesses

Many businesses could suffer if people began to adopt this subscription model. If individuals are not following certain accounts, they may not even be aware of their existence. 

Larger brands are likely to benefit the most, as they are well-known and can afford to advertise on other platforms, such as television and magazines, expenses that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often cannot bear.

I have a friend who sells women’s clothing and shoes on Instagram. She sponsors her posts to reach her target audience. 

Since she doesn’t have a physical store, she relies heavily on these sponsored posts to attract customers. As a result, she often makes more sales than some businesses with physical shops.

Also, take an example like bigger brands like LC Waikiki, who already have the name recognition, physical stores, and large offline marketing budgets, even without Instagram and Facebook marketing ads, people would still know LC Waikiki.

These Big brands can shift budget to influencer marketing, PR events, collaborations, and giveaways.

SMEs, on the other hand, rely on targeted Instagram and Facebook ads to reach new customers cheaply, gain visibility, credibility, and growth, and without these ads, their ability to compete and reach new customers would be greatly reduced

The Influencer Economy Angle

Many influencers would be quite beneficial, as larger brands have the financial resources to hire well-known influencers to promote their products.

If an ad-free Instagram and Facebook alternative were to launch in Kenya, it could significantly increase the earnings of these influencers.

For SMEs, many cannot afford top-tier influencers and resort to micro-influencers. While this approach can be effective, it is generally less predictable and harder to scale than paid advertising.

For users, removing ads might actually mean being flooded with influencer promotions instead. This shift would even hurt the reputation of content creators.

Here’s why: Kenyans follow influencers because of the value in their content, like comedians who are loved for being funny and entertaining, but the moment these creators start heavily promoting big brands, many followers might begin to view their work as “too commercial,”  even if it’s not.

Would Kenyans Pay for Ad-free Social Media?

Let’s be honest for a moment: if a subscription model were introduced right now, I can bet that most Kenyans would not pay for it.

Many Kenyans come from low-income backgrounds, and for most of them, the KES 600 needed to pay for an ad-free experience on Instagram and Facebook could be better spent on food, clothing, or paying their bills.

If you choose not to subscribe to Instagram’s ad-free option, the app will still function normally. However, you will encounter ads each time you use the app. Many Kenyans have dealt with this for years without any complaints.

Likely outcome? Most Kenyans would stick with ads, which will, in turn, keep SMEs visible.

Bigger Picture: What this Means for Kenya

The subscription model would likely experience minimal changes in Kenya if it were implemented there.

The primary reason for the introduction of this ad-free subscription in the UK stems from a privacy case in which human rights campaigners sued Meta. 

They alleged that the company violated UK data laws by not respecting individuals' rights to request that Facebook cease collecting their information and targeting them with advertisements.

In Kenya, the ad-free Instagram and Facebook model would be realized if similar allegations emerged that Meta had violated Kenya’s data law by not respecting users' information and targeting them with ads.

In the long term, Kenya and Africa as a whole would risk being deprioritised if Meta focuses on revenue-heavy regions and decides to focus on regions that bring higher advertising revenue. like North America, Europe, and parts of Asia.

What should businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), do? I believe it is beneficial for them to diversify their presence across various platforms, such as TikTok, Google Ads, YouTube, and by creating their own websites. This diversification will enable them to grow more rapidly and reach a wider audience.

Conclusion

Meta's move in the UK is primarily about regulation, but other countries, particularly Kenya, need to monitor the situation closely since advertising remains a crucial component of Kenya's digital economy.

Diversification is crucial for SMEs, providing alternatives if one platform fails to meet expectations. These SMEs should prepare for potential shifts by developing multiplatform strategies to stay afloat.