Let’s face it: it is indeed a big deal to have a super personality like Mark Zuckerberg visit Nigeria at a time when the international media mentions Nigeria only for the wrong reasons.
Whether the world admits it or not, there is a rapidly growing ecosystem and it is only a matter of time before we see its true potential.
Quite frankly, his visit caught me unawares and by the time I realised that Mark was in town, it was too late to get the Tech Trends TV crew to Yaba for a chat with him. I tried frantically to make it happen to no avail.
I must confess that this experience has again taken me through the school of life – you never know it all and your connections may not always get you the results you desire.
Be that as it may, I am glad I now possess a priceless selfie with Mark Zuckerberg, a photo I will treasure for a long time to come.
Why; you might ask? Is it because Mark is one of the richest men in the world? The answer is yes and yes! He is currently the 5th richest man in the world and I see him becoming number one in another two to three years all things being equal.
Besides, I am glad that in my lifetime, tonnes of young people both locally and internationally have gone from zero to billionaires in various currencies not by inheritance but through the development of solutions that have leveraged on technology to transform the world.
In my opinion, Mark is not a Father Christmas; he is an entrepreneur and a capitalist. What this simply means is that if the numbers did not make sense to him, he would not come.
Here’s an interesting statistics published by Techcrunch; “Facebook has 120 million users in Africa, 84 million of whom are in Sub-Saharan Africa. With 17 million users, Nigeria is the company’s largest Sub-Saharan African market, followed by South Africa (14 million), and Kenya (5.7 million).
Now you know why this market is very important to Mark and his team. That said, here are some of the reasons I believe his trip is a good one:
First and foremost, Nigeria is not a state in a country called Africa. I have had foreigners ask me questions in this regards and it only makes me laugh. Be that as it may; having Mark walk the streets of Yaba and jogging through Lekki bridge sends a strong signal that Nigeria isn’t a war torn zone and despite the recession there is indeed a growing tech community that is working hard to make a difference. — Finish Reading on the Punch Website
