[Photos] Facebook CEO in Kenya to meet tech people and learn about mobile money

Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is in Kenya on the second leg of his historic visit to Africa. He started his ‘African mission’ in Nigeria on August 30.

In Kenya, Zuckerberg said he was looking forward to learn about mobile money, ‘‘where Kenya is the world leader,’‘ his post on Facebook read. As he did in Nigeria, he will meet with entrepreneurs and developers in the east African country.

‘‘I’m starting at a place called iHub, where entrepreneurs can build and prototype their ideas,’‘ he stated.

He spoke about two engineers he met — Fausto and Mark – who had designed a system to help people use mobile payments to buy small amounts of cooking gas, which is a lot safer and better for the environment than charcoal or kerosene.

Lunch with Cabinet Secretary on Information and Communications

This is what he posted about his first lunch in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

‘‘I had lunch in Nairobi with Joseph Mucheru, the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary of Information and Communications. We talked about internet access and his ambitious plans for connecting everyone in Kenya.

‘‘We ate at MAMA Oliech Restaurant – a local place everyone recommended. One of my favorite parts of traveling to a new country is trying the food. I enjoyed ugali and a whole fried tilapia for the first time and loved them both!’‘

About his Nigerian trip

He met with developers, trainees and other technology enthusiasts at the Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) in Yaba, Lagos where he interacted with kids and entrepreneurs to have an idea of how technology works in Africa.

Founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, visits Nigeria's leading technology hub, Co-Creation Hub in Yaba. pic.twitter.com/SheQTQQriB

— The Guardian Nigeria (@GuardianNigeria) August 30, 2016

The visit was extended to other tech developers including Temi Giwa, who built a platform called Life Bank that makes blood available when and where it is needed in Nigeria.

Zuckerberg also visited Andela which is funded by himself and his wife to building the next generation of technical leaders in Africa.

In the two years since it was founded, Andela has accepted just over 200 engineers from a pool of more than 40,000 applicants.

“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,” Director of Andela Lagos, Seni Sulyman said.

The visit ended at 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,” the social network service said.