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Facebook CEO takes inside look at Nigeria

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 31 Aug 2016
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg interacts with children participating in the summer of coding camp at the Co-creation Hub in Nigeria.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg interacts with children participating in the summer of coding camp at the Co-creation Hub in Nigeria.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is visiting Nigeria this week, marking his first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Zuckerberg's visit to the West African country follows Facebook's initial forays on the continent last year, when it opened its first African office in Johannesburg.

During the trip, Zuckerberg will visit Yabacon Valley in Lagos, meet with developers and partners, and explore Nollywood.

In true Zuckerberg fashion, the Facebook boss took to the social network to document his first stop to the Co-creation Hub Nigeria (CcHub) in Yaba. At CcHub, people can learn how to code, developers can get help launching their first products, and find mentors and funding.

He said in a post on his profile: "This is my first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa. I'll be meeting with developers and entrepreneurs, and learning about the start-up ecosystem in Nigeria.

"The energy here is amazing and I'm excited to learn as much as I can."

Budding entrepreneurs

Another notable stop is the visit to Andela. Andela is a business that recruits talented technologists in Africa and shapes them into world-class developers through a four-year technical leadership programme.

Earlier this year, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invested in Andela after being impressed by the company's innovative model of learning and its drive to connect the global technology ecosystem with talented developers in Africa.

Seni Sulyman, director of Andela Lagos, says: "We are excited and honoured to welcome Mark Zuckerberg to Lagos. His visit reinforces not only his support of Andela's mission, but his belief that indeed the next generation of great technology leaders will come out of Lagos, Nigeria and cities across Africa."

He adds: "Mark's visit demonstrates to all Nigerian developers and entrepreneurs that they've caught the attention of the tech world, and they are capable of succeeding on a truly global level."

Thecla Mbongue, senior research analyst at Ovum, says what makes Zuckerberg's visit special is its focus. "It will be on supporting tech hubs and entrepreneurship rather than just increasing Internet access to the lower end-users as it has often been."

Digital Flow director Mike Wronski says Zuckerberg's trip shows a fresh interest in the continent and its potential.

He states: "Nigeria has one of the largest economies in Africa and is also a hub of entrepreneurial activity. Mark's intention to visit the Co-creation Hub, a tech start-up incubator in Lagos, indicates Facebook is taking African start-ups seriously and we may see some potential acquisitions lined up in the future."

Africa rising

Globally, there are over 1.65 billion monthly active Facebook users.

Last June, Facebook said its active user population in Africa was 120 million, with many of those coming from Africa's most populous nation.

In February 2016, the social network disclosed that 16 million people in Nigeria visited Facebook every month, with almost 100% accessing it from mobile devices.

Nunu Ntshingila, head of Facebook Africa, previously said the social networking giant is looking to scale in Africa.

According to Mbongue, the significance of the Nigeria visit demonstrates Facebook's acknowledgement of the continent as a key region for its growth strategy.

She says: "Nigeria is Africa's largest telecoms market in Africa with just over 150 million mobile users in the second quarter of 2016. It is also a booming market in terms of broadband usage uptake but also in terms of tech entrepreneurship."

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