Messaging and calling app Viber, which has more than 664m unique users worldwide, has opened its latest social channel, ‘Public Chats’, to partners in Africa and the Middle East. Brands, organizations, celebrities, public figures and social influencers from these countries can now join Viber’s global platform to reach a local and regional audience.

Public Chats are live discussions that Viber users can follow, like and share with their community. Released in beta in November 2014 with select global partners, this feature offers a new kind of social experience – tapping into live conversations with celebrities, personalities, brands and organizations. Mobile users can discover new communities, follow interactive chats in real-time and share original pieces of content with friends and contacts.

“The Middle East and Africa are important markets for Viber, and we are pleased to welcome local influencers and brands to our Public Chats platform,” said Viber CMO, Mark Hardy. “We are sure they will enjoy chatting, commenting and debating live on this active social channel whilst sharing tips, news, and local content to our constantly-connected mobile audience across the region.”

Selected partners in Africa and the Middle East, at Pan-African level and in key markets such as S. Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Egypt, have joined Public Chats for the regional launch in a bid to be the first players to offer local conversations on Viber. African users can now start to follow them from the Viber Public Chats explore page.

Youssou NDour, the acclaimed Senegalese singer and composer, is one of the first artists to join Viber Public Chats in the region. He said: “the Viber Public Chats channel will enable my fans to follow in real time my music and artistic activities. It will also represent an opportunity for me to engage in discussions designed to forge a peaceful and open world.”

In the continent, Pan-African media such as AllAfrica.com and TRUE Africa have joined as partners and are now live on Public Chats. Other Pan-African partners include Brand Africa, a non-profit organisation and intergenerational movement that aims to create a positive image of Africa; fashion influencer and stylist Louis Philippe de Gagoue; and Gareth Pon, Africa’s top instagrammer, filmmaker and social influencer. In addition, more than 50 other partners have joined Public Chats in key African markets, including artists, actresses, bloggers, radio stations and sports news portals.

Public Chats are easy to follow from within the Viber app. Anyone on Viber can follow as many Public Chats as they like. Conversations are multi-media and include text, photos, audio, video, stickers, web links and geo-localization. Users can invite friends to follow their favourite Public Chats and share parts of these conversations. The most popular chats are featured on the home screen of Viber’s Public Chats section. Users can find new Public Chats through the search tab or access a chat directly via a customized URL.

Global brands, celebrities and public figures on Public Chats include online media platforms such as Huffington Post, Mashable, BuzzFeed and the BBC; the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modri; and pop star Pixie Lott.