Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Visits Nigeria on 1st Trip to Sub-Saharan Africa

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg visited Nigeria on Tuesday for the “Facebook for Developers” workshop in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. The Facebook for Developers workshop is expected to help Nigerian engineers, product managers, and app builders develop smarter applications and monetize them more effectively.

Zuckerberg also made a stopover at the Summer of Code Camp at the Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) in Yaba, fondly regarded as the “Silicon Valley of Nigeria.” At the CcHub, young talent with an interest in computer applications learn how to write codes while networking with like-minded professionals toward building smarter IT solutions.

Zuckerberg’s visit came as a surprise to many in Nigeria as there had been no prior report announcing his visit.

Zuckerberg, however, took to his Facebook page to write, “This is my first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. I’ll be meeting with developers and entrepreneurs, and learning about the startup ecosystem in Nigeria. The energy here is amazing and I’m excited to learn as much as I can.

Mark Zuckerberg jogging FREELY on a bridge at Lekki. He’s a billionaire yet humble. Africans learn!!!

The first place I got to visit was the Co-creation Hub Nigeria (CcHUB) in Yaba. I got to talk to kids at a summer coding camp and entrepreneurs who come to CcHub to build and launch their apps. I’m looking forward to meeting more people in Nigeria.

Zuckerberg meets with youngsters at the summer coding camp.
Premium Times

During his visit, Zuckerberg is expected to hold a media parley with the press and speak to IT professionals addressing a range of technical-related issues. He is also expected to explore Nollywood, Nigeria’s movie industry, and interact with top industry professionals.

Facebook is easily the world’s largest social networking platform with an estimated 1.65 billion registered users globally. Nigeria, with a population of 170 million people, is Africa’s biggest user of Facebook with estimates putting the number of daily users of the social network at 7.1 million.

Facebook also owns Whatsapp, an instant messaging platform that it acquired in 2014 for $19 billion. Whatsapp has also steadily grown to become one of the most important platforms for sending files and documents within Nigeria and the rest of Africa because of its user friendliness and affordability.