Facebook launches community tech hub in Nigeria
Facebook is launching a "community hub" and training program in Nigeria, its biggest market in Africa.
The
hub will offer support to tech startups and will also train 50,000
young people and SMEs in digital skills across the country.
Opening in 2018, it
will be Facebook's first tech space in Africa as the social media
company follows in the footsteps of search giant Google who in July
launched an ambitious initiative to train 10 million young people in
online skills over five years.
Emeka
Afigbo, Head of platform partnerships, Middle East & Africa told
CNN: "What we aim to do at the incubator is to provide support for high
tech startups that do not ordinarily get investments, until they can
develop a proof of concept, which will attract other investors."
With an eye on growing their user base, US technology companies are increasingly turning to Africa's large youth population.
In
Nigeria alone, there are 22 million monthly Facebook users; 10 million
of them log in daily to the platform, all on mobile devices, Facebook
says.
Afigbo added that Nigeria,
Africa's most populous nation, was an important market for Facebook.
"Everybody knows about the country's entrepreneurial drive," he says.
"Its
creativity, large population, and that a lot of this population is
young people, more important is that we think the investment in Nigeria
will spread and have impact across the continent," he added.
Facebook has been investing heavily in Africa, recently appointing a regional director based in South Africa.
In
August, founder Mark Zuckerberg visited Nigeria and Kenya for the first
time and visited the Co-Creation (CCHub). He met with developers and
entrepreneurs and spent time learning about the startup ecosystem in
Nigeria.
"The energy here is amazing and I'm excited to learn as much as I can," he said during his visit.
During that visit, Zuckerberg announced an investment of 24 million dollars through his Chan Zuckerberg Initiative in Andela, a tech startup that trains software developers in Africa and gives them full-time roles in international companies.
No comments
Your comments and Encouragement are welcome