We’ve just confirmed that Mark Zuckerberg is at the CoCreation Hub, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria at this very moment. Apparently, he arrived this afternoon and is meeting with a few key players in the Nigerian tech ecosystem.
Mark was in Rome with his wife, Priscilla, until a few hours ago (according to his Facebook page). He held a Q&A session, visited the Pope and did a few “touristy” things. This visit to Nigeria wasn’t announced so you’ll permit if I go off into speculation.
There’s been a lot of Facebook-related development in Nigeria so there’s a ton of reasons why Mark may be visiting. First, Free Basics launched in Nigeria and Mark showed his support for the Jobberman team. Then the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative invested $24 million in Andela. Facebook’s developer workshop is happening tomorrow, and yesterday, we reported that Facebook is partnering with Cool Link to launch Express Wifi in Lagos some time this week.
I reckon Mark is in Nigeria to kill all these birds – visit Jobberman, the Andela team he’s invested in, attend the developer workshop, launch Express Wifi AND have policy-centred conversations with the Nigerian government to further Facebook’s cause.
You’ll know more when we know more.
