INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology
Facebook ’ s Zuckerberg breezes into Lagos to feel innovation tempo
Mark then went to Andela , an engineering organisation 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 .
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 in Yaba , known as the Silicon Valley of Nigeria . CcHub opened in 2011 and at the time did not 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 mobilising 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 . 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 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 am looking forward to meeting more people in Nigeria .”
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 .
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 .
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 have 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 .
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