Social networking giant Facebook Inc. said it saw growth of 13% in its three biggest African markets in the nine months through March, according to Africa CEO Nunu Ntshingila. The increase means that Facebook current has 35.5 million account holders who use the network at least once a month, across South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, after adding 4 million account holders in the time period. 16 million of the total come from Nigeria, Africa’s most populated country.

The growth has been led by Ntshingila, who joined FB when the company opened its first office in Africa about a year ago. The growth the company has seen in the region is a big success story and a testament to its adaptively, as the lack of high-speed connectivity on the continent posed a big obstacle. To get over the hurdle, FB had to create innovative products that required less data than their previous ones.

 The company could see even more growth in the region in the near future too, as it agreed with a Paris-based communications company to launch a satellite to provide internet to large parts of sub-Saharan Africa. The company hopes that by expanding the area by which it offers its products, it will help to grow the rate of people connecting to the internet too.

Facebook is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), but increasing growth across the world could change that as the company expands in the future.

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