According to CNN Mark Zuckerberg has just
made his first visit to ‘Sub-Sahara-Africa’ to
witness the impact of his Facebook social media
enterprise and to promote his Express WIFI
internet service.
One should point it out to the CNN journalists
and researchers, probably graduates from fourth-
grade American universities, that there really
isn’t a place called ‘Sub-Sahara-Africa’ anymore
as it’s populated with countries that have names
like ‘Nigeria’.
So Billionaire Mark Zuckerberg arrives in Nigeria,
incognito, wearing his trademark low-key T-shirt
and jeans and casually strolls into the Yaba
offices of Co-creation Hub and Andela.
For future reference someone ought to tell him
that if you’re 54 billion dollar Golden Goose you
don’t go walk about in Yaba. The area boys there
will jump you, mug you and kidnap you –
bodyguards or not! But yet again nobody
probably told him that if you’re a Tech Giant in
Nigeria ( – do we have any?) you’re supposed to
arrive in an entourage comprising of gun-toting
policemen, bullet-proof 4X4s, a bevy of hanger-
ons – and of course the full red carpet
treatment.
But yet again our mentalities are different. When
a Black Man has mega-money he suddenly thinks
he’s the King of the Universe, struts around like
a peacock on heat, reeking of ostentatious luxury
and expects everyone to bow down and kiss his
feet. Whereas the White Man thinks ‘well I’m
stupendously rich but I still want to live my
simple life’. Big difference. Money doesn’t make
a person!
Whilst we might be ‘fantastically corrupt’ as ex-
PM British Cameron once referred to us, the
world – and tech giants – are watching us
carefully, especially our youths who are a dab
hand at computers, coding and social media( –
not forgetting the antics of the yahoo yahoo 419
boys for which we’re infamously known
worldwide!). Nigeria has the largest online social
media base and its growing, perpetuating every
aspect of lives. Growth is greater in Africa than
it is in the rest of the world. For marketers and
developers this is paradise: a vast untapped
market.
The Western world is finally waking up to the
fact that we’re not just a bunch of tree-climbing,
monkey-chasing, goat-herding imbeciles as
previously thought. We have as much raw talent
as they do, hence his visit.
Zuckerberg wants to get the whole world on to
social media. To do this he is interested in
sponsoring the next generation of developers and
start-ups. Andela recently received funding to
the tune of $24 million from the Zuckerberg
foundation. To get everyone online poorer
nations need a reliable internet service. His
organisation, Internet.org, intends to get 4.5
billion unconnected people, worldwide, as soon
as possible. To achieve this he has funded
research into solar-powered high-altitude mobile
relay platforms and a new breed of satellites.
Unfortunately his flagship satellite, Amos-6, was
destroyed in the Space-X rocket explosion a
couple of days ago when he was in Nigeria ( –
abi you naija people don curse am?)
Kenya, Zuckerbergs next port of call, is a world
leader in mobile payments and he was keen to
learn all about it. Just like in Nigeria Kenya has
its own silicon valley called iHub and many of
the developers and start-ups are working on apps
geared towards the local populace.
While we have a government and private
investors who are blind to the advances being
made by our tech savvy youths (- until they hack
their bank accounts!) others are watching
carefully and ready to invest in them. As
Zuckerberg himself admits that Africa will build
the future.
This is the third foreign billionaire to visit Nigeria
in recent times: one,Gates, came to donate cash
towards our ailing and failing health service,
another, Bono of U2, came to highlight the plight
of people living in deplorable IDP camps and now
Zuckerberg.
Isn’t it time our own home-grown ‘billionaires’
follow suit, or haven’t they been shamed
enough?
An Article By Tony Ogunlowo
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