Mark Zuckerberg visits Nigeria

Mark Zuckerberg is getting serious about adding new "friends" in Africa.

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.
Related: Zuckerberg gives Pope Francis a drone
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.

Facebook's 'Free Basics' app offers free Internet access to millions of people in more than 20 African nations.

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.

CNNMoney (Lagos, Nigeria) First published August 30, 2016: 12:31 PM ET

Social Surge - What's Trending

• 

  Seaworld shares open at an all-time low

• 

  Wage gap between blacks and whites is worst in nearly 40 years

• 

  Cheers! The world's first beer pipeline is now open

Mortgage & Savings

Powered by LendingTree

Terms & Conditions apply

NMLS #1136

CNNMoney Sponsors

Partner Offers

Paid Partner

NextAdvisor

Paid Partner

• 2 credit cards are offering 0% interest until 2018
• An overlooked method to pay off your credit card balance
• The 10 best balance transfer credit cards for 2016
• Here's why transferring a credit card balance to a 21-month 0% APR is a good plan
• $500 for using this credit card

Zuck visits Nigeria

Share on Google Plus

About Unknown

This is a short description in the author block about the author. You edit it by entering text in the "Biographical Info" field in the user admin panel.