Zuckerberg meets developers, entrepreneurs on first trip to Nigeria

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday visited Nigeria on his first trip to Sub-Saharan Africa, using his time in the country to visit the Yaba technology hub in Lagos where he met with developers and partners.

His visit to the country came after the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invested $24 million in an African startup, Andela, an organisation that is building the next generation of technical leaders in Africa.

“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,” Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page. “The energy here is amazing and I’m excited to learn as much as I can.”

The Facebook CEO visted ‘Summer of Code Camp’ at the Co-Creation Hub (CcHub), Yaba. He also met with developers like Temi Giwa, who runs a platform called Life Bank that makes blood available when and where it is needed in Nigeria.

“The first place I got to visit was the Co-creation Hub Nigeria 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,” he said.

Expectedly, Zuckerberg also visited Andela Lagos office. According to Seni Sulyman, Director, Andela Lagos, his visit reinforced 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.”

“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,” he added.