Mark Zuckerberg Shows Support For Nigerian Developers, Praises Jobberman Founders
Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg yesterday showed support for Nigerian developers following the launch of Free Basics in Lagos, Nigeria.
Free Basics by Facebook provides free access to basic internet services to over a billion people around the world.
He expressed excitement at the level of success achieved by African developers and praised Jobberman founders, Olalekan Elude, Ayodeji Adewunmi and Opeyemi Awoyemi for their innovation.
Read Zuckerberg's post below:
Today we’re partnering with Airtel Africa to launch Internet.org Free Basics in Nigeria.
There's a lot of innovation across Africa right now, and Nigeria in particular is home to a lot of talented developers.
In 2009, Olalekan Elude, Ayodeji Adewunmi and Opeyemi Awoyemi started a site called Jobberman in their dorm to help connect people looking for work with companies looking to hire. Now Jobberman is one of the top 100 websites in Nigeria, and it gets 5,000 applications every day.
Free Basics offers Nigerians, including 90 million people who are currently offline, the opportunity to access news, health information and services like Jobberman that were built by Nigerians and other developers across West Africa -- all without having to pay for data.
Free Basics is now live in more than 40 countries, and half of those are in Africa. Over the next few months, we'll be doing even more to connect developers with people who can use their apps -- and partner with local companies to bring internet to people across Africa who don't have access to mobile networks.
About Facebook
Founded in 2004, Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected. People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what is going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them. Facebook has 1.04 billion daily active users on average worldwide and 7.2 million daily visitors from Nigeria.
About Red Media Africa
Red Media Africa ( http://www.redmediaafrica.com ) is the PR & Empowerment Marketing division under the parent brand, RED.
It focuses on using inspiration, empowerment and action to help brands and organisations connect with their audiences, enhance their bottom-lines and lead in their industries. It has 6 major practice areas: Corporate Practice, Technology Practice, SME Practice, Governance Practice, Faith Practice and the International Practice - with work for brands across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. RED owns the continent's largest portfolio of youth media brands.
Its Content Division holds brands across TV, radio, online and events including Y! Magazine,YNaija.com, Rubbin' Minds, #YTech100 and the The RED Summit. It also anchors a development firm, The Future Project, which projects include Africa's leading youth platform, The Future Awards Africa, HowCanIGetInvolved.com and Aiki.ng, which is run in conjunction with Microsoft.