ICYMI- FACEBOOK FOUNDER, MARK ZUCKERBERG WAS IN YABA, LAGOS, YESTERDAY (PHOTOS)

The Facebook founder visited Sub-Saharan Africa for the first time on Tuesday, touching down in Lagos, Nigeria. He met with local businesses and developers in an effort to understand how Facebook (FB, Tech30) could "better support tech development and entrepreneurship across Africa," the company said in a statement.

His visit included a trip to a Yaba, known as the Silicon Valley of Nigeria, where 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." 

As Zuckerberg walked down the street, he drew loud cheers from passersby.

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 put his weight behind an initiative called "Free Basics," which provides free Internet access to cellphone users in under-served countries, including Zambia, Tanzania and Kenya.

It 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.

However, the app is not without controversy. India's telecoms regulator blocked the service in February, saying providers must charge the same price for all content.

Critics have also argued that the program violates the central tenets of net neutrality, which stipulate that all Internet content and users should be treated equally. Cherry-picking free content isn't considered fair or right, according to the critics.

 Late last year, Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan publicly pledged to donate billions of Facebook shares to fund projects and charities that advance human potential and promote equality though their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

NEWS [Photos] Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg visits Nigeria, witnesses Africa’s tech revolution By Jumoke Plumptre | August 31, 2016 Share Tweet Share Share 0 comments Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is visiting Nigeria this week on his first trip to Africa, using his time in the country to visit the Yaba technology hub in Lagos, meet with developers and partners, and explore Nollywood. Zuckerberg is in Nigeria to listen and learn and take ideas back to California on how Facebook can better support tech development and entrepreneurship across Africa. One of his first stops on the trip was to visit a ‘Summer of Code Camp’ at the Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) in Yaba, known as the Silicon Valley of Nigeria. CcHub opened in 2011 and at the time didn’t even have an office. Five years later they fill three floors and the roof of a building. At CcHub people can learn how to code, developers can get help launching their first products, and find mentors and funding. At CcHub Zuckerberg 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. Life Bank saves lives by mobilizing blood donations, taking inventory of all blood available in the country, and delivering blood in the right condition to where it is needed. After visiting CcHub Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, said: “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. 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.” READ Sanusi recommends 7 steps Buhari must take to revive the economy Mark then went to Andela, an engineering organization that is building the next generation of technical leaders in Africa. Andela is a business that recruits the most talented technologists in Africa and shapes them into world-class developers through a four-year technical leadership program. In the two years since it was founded, Andela has accepted just over 200 engineers from a pool of more than 40,000 applicants. Andela developers spend six months mastering a technical stack and contributing to open source projects before being placed with global technology companies as full-time, distributed teammates, working out of Andela headquarters in Lagos and Nairobi. Mark Zuckerberg at CoCreation Hub Nigeria.jpg 03 topnaija.ng Mark Zuckerberg at CoCreation Hub Nigeria.jpg 05 topnaija.ng Mark Zuckerberg at CoCreation Hub Nigeria.jpg 06 topnaija.ng Mark Zuckerberg at CoCreation Hub Nigeria.jpg 07 topnaija.ng Mark Zuckerberg at CoCreation Hub Nigeria.jpg 08 topnaija.ng Mark Zuckerberg at CoCreation Hub Nigeria.jpg 09 topnaija.ng 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 the most talented developers in Africa. READ Inflation rises as Naira crashes further to 414/dollar Seni Sulyman, Director, Andela Lagos, said: “We are excited and honored 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. Andela has created a platform for passionate, driven software developers and engineers to break into the global tech ecosystem, but the barriers to entry are still very high. 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.” At the end of the day Zuckerberg stopped by an Express WiFi stand in Lagos owned by Rosemary Njoku. Facebook’s Express WiFi lets entrepreneurs like Rosemary set up a hot spot to help their community access apps and services built by local developers.

Read More at topnaija.ng/photos-facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-visits-nigeria-witnesses-africas-tech-revolution/ © TopNaija | Follow @TopNaija

Article Credit- CNN Money.com