Facebook announces its new office in Lagos, Nigeria

In 2016 Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stopped in Lagos, Nigeria in his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa, where he held meetings with developers and entrepreneurs to learn about the many startups in the country’s tech and entrepreneurship ecosystem.  During his visit, Zuckerberg met with coders at the Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), stopped by Andela – a software developer accelerator, and held a town hall meeting with entrepreneurs. Reports released by Facebook earlier that year revealed that more people use Facebook in Nigeria than anywhere else in Africa.  

Well, Facebook has now announced its plans to open an office in Lagos, Nigeria – its second office on the African continent as part of its continued commitment and ongoing investment in Africa. The office aimed at supporting the entire Sub-Saharan Africa region is expected to become operational in H2 2021 and will be the first on the continent to house various teams servicing the continent from across the business, including Sales, Partnerships, Policy, Communications as well as Engineers hoping to shape the future of Africa and beyond.

“The opening of our new office in Lagos, Nigeria presents new and exciting opportunities in digital innovations to be developed from the continent and taken to the rest of the world. All across Africa, we’re seeing immense talent in the tech ecosystem, and I’m proud that with the upcoming opening of our new office, we’ll be building products for the future of Africa, and the rest of the world, with Africans at the helm. We look forward to contributing further to the African tech ecosystem.” Ime Archibong, Facebook’s Head of New Product Experimentation said.

The investment of the new Facebook office follows the 2018 opening of NG Hub, its first flagship community hub space in Africa in partnership with CcHub, and the 2019 opening of a Small Business Group (SBG) Operations Centre in Lagos, in partnership with Teleperformance.

“Our new office in Nigeria presents an important milestone which further reinforces our ongoing commitment to the region. Our mission in Africa is no different to elsewhere in the world – to build community and bring the world closer together, and I’m excited about the possibilities that this will create, not just in Nigeria, but across Africa,” commented Kojo Boakye, Facebook’s Director of Public Policy, Africa.

Since the opening of its first office in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2015, Facebook has made a number of investments across the continent, aimed at supporting and growing the tech ecosystem, expanding and providing reliable connectivity infrastructures, and helping businesses to grow locally, regionally and globally.

Nunu Ntshingila, Africa’s Facebook Regional Director, said: “We’re delighted to be announcing our new office in Nigeria. Five years on from opening our first office on the continent in Johannesburg, South Africa, we’re continuing to invest in and support local talent, as well as the various communities that use our platforms. The office in Lagos will also be key in helping to expand how we service our clients across the continent.”

Facebook is currently in a partnership with China Mobile International, MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, STC, Telecom Egypt, Vodafone, and WIOCC to build 2Africa, the world’s largest subsea cable project that will deliver much-needed internet capacity and reliability across large parts of Africa.



Enock Bett152 Posts

Media and Public Relations Practitioner, Technology & Business News Editor |New Media Enthusiast||Pushing Boundaries, Defying Limits & Exceeding Expectations|

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