Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is in Kenya. This is his first ever trip to Sub-Saharan Africa and he kicked it off by making a surprise stop in Nigeria for a two day visit.
The mogul landed at the JKIA on Thursday morning and proceeded to announce his arrival on Facebook and his post partly read:
“Just landed in Nairobi! I’m here to meet with entrepreneurs and developers, and to learn about mobile money — where Kenya is the world leader.”
The Facebook billionaire seeks to meet tech developers, entrepreneurs and startups.
His first stop? iHub, a leading establishment that gives tech entrepreneurs a platform to build and prototype their ideas. After the visit, he termed mobile money technology as an inspiring innovation given its evident impact on communities. The billionaire proceeded to visit BRCK, the Wi-Fi device maker. He was especially impressed by Strauss Energy Roof tile, a building technology that harnesses the sun’s rays which are, in turn, converted to solar energy.
In yet another update, Zuckerberg announced that he met with the Kenyan CS for Information and Communications, Joseph Mucheru, with whom he had lunch at Mama Oliech restaurant in Yaya. And there are receipts to prove this as photos of the billionaire seated opposite the CS were shared: enjoying a plate of ugali and Tilapia fish. And yes, he said he liked it!
The two, according to the Facebook mogul, talked about internet access and plans to ensure that everyone in Kenya is connected.
Recently, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invested millions of dollars in Andela, a startup that trains software developers in Africa in addition to giving them full time jobs in International companies.
Free basics is yet another initiative by Facebook and it seeks to connect people through their mobile phones. The controversial initiative has been banned in India since it was termed as discriminatory with regard to online sites users can access. Despite this, Zuckerberg insists that he stands by this project.
We can only hope that his visit will bear positive impacts given that Kenya is a tech hub that can use his support.
We will definitely keep you posted on any developments.
