Kevin Nyango
TechInAfrica – Facebook’s moves to open a Nigeria hub space is a commendable move. It will motivate technology entrepreneurs and software developers in Africa to be more serious about their work. It is great news for all in Africa, especially Nigeria; the company has become one of the latest tech giants to come up with such training program in Africa.
Facebook, the social media giant that has over 1 billion users claims that the center it plans to create will help 50,000 Nigerians to develop their digital skills. The center will also include an “incubator program” established to help assist tech start-ups.
More technology companies are looking to gain the loyalty of more users. The ever-increasing population growth, increase in mobile phone users and falling data costs are part of the things starring up their interest in the Africa continent.
The social media giant Facebook is yet to disclose when it plans to start the program in Nigeria, a country with a population of more than 180 million people.
According to the company, the training is targeted at students, software developers, and entrepreneurs. The training will take place in Abuja; Nigeria’s capital, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Kaduna; which are in the south, southeast and north respectively.
Andela, a tech company in Lagos Nigeria that trains developers had received financial support from Mark Zuckerberg’s charitable foundation. The Facebook founder made a pledge of $24 million when he visited the country last year.
The chief executive of Google is also among tech giants planning something big for Africa. According to his statement when he visited Lagos in July, the company will embark on a mission to train 10 million individuals in the Africa continent in various online skills. He claims the training will last over five years. He also indicated his plan to provide training for 100,000 software developers IN South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria.
Facebook claims to record over 22 million users from Nigeria on monthly basis. But compared to countries like India or China, the Africa continent may not bring in more consumers. They have a large wealth gap compared to the Africa countries. People in the underdeveloped countries like Nigeria also have only small disposable income.
The widespread poverty in Africa means that adoption of mobile favors certain phone models. And combining this with poor telecommunication infrastructures will not only result to slow internet speeds but make people spend less time on the internet which is basically what technology firms depend on to generate revenue.
