The Facebook founder visited Nigeria, West Africa for the first time on Tuesday, he touched down in Lagos, Nigeria. There he met with local businesses and developers in an effort to understand how Facebook could “better support tech development and entrepreneurship across Africa,” the company said in a statement.
His visit included a trip to Yaba in Central Lagos, commonly referred to as the Silicon Valley of Nigeria, there he toured a coding camp for kids and met with about 50 local startup founders and developers at CcHub, a local innovation center.
Zuckerberg told CNN: “There’s so much energy and so much potential here. I just want to walk around and meet folks
Zuckerberg has been increasingly involved in African initiatives this year.
In June, his foundation — the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative — made a multi-million dollar investment in Andela, a two-year-old startup that trains African software developers and gives them full-time roles at international companies. Andela works out of headquarters in Lagos and Nairobi, Kenya — so Zuck paid a visit to the Lagos office too.
Andela’s director Seni Sulyman said it was a thrill to welcome Zuckerberg.
“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,” Sulyman said in a written statement.
Zuckerberg has also backed an initiative called “Free Basics,” which provides free Internet access to cellphone users in under-served countries, including Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya.
The program runs in more than 20 African countries and recently launched in Nigeria.
The “Free Basics” app — which is run by Facebook’s Internet.org unit — allows cellphone users to access certain types of information related to areas like health care and employment.
