Mark Zuckerberg having lunch in Nairobi with Joseph Mucheru, the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary of Information and Communications/COURTESY
NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 1 – Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the world’s third richest person has caused a stir on Kenya’s various social media platforms following his surprise visit into the capital early Thursday.
Dressed his signature grey grey hoodie and sneakers, the 32-year-old founder of the world’s biggest social media platform announced that he was in Nairobi to meet with entrepreneurs and developers.
“I’m here to meet with entrepreneurs and developers, and to learn about mobile money – where Kenya is the world leader,” Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook wall that has over 78 million followers.
Not so surprising, one of the first places the self made dollar billionaire went to is a local eatery, Mama Oliech Restaurant, which is famous for its fish delicacies.
“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!” he wrote.
Zuckerberg was in the company of a suit-and-tied ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru.
In the true spirit of Kenya’s online community, microbloggers used Zuckerberg’s appearance at the restaurant to highlight his humility and call out to the ‘not so humble’ citizens.
Zuckerberg havin a meal @ a Kibanda & ur girlfriend from Thika road can’t have a meal with U unless U take her to a 5 star restaurant 😂😂 wow
— JOEmie Lannister⚔ (@JoeWMuchiri) September 1, 2016
Some people are so mesmerized that Mark Zuckerberg ate fish with his hands. I mean what was he supposed to use? A Keyboard?
— Wambui (@Waambui) September 1, 2016
Others applauded his choice of quietly jetting into the country seeing that there was no accompanying fanfare.
Mark Zuckerberg came in quietly no traffic jams nothing. When some dudes leave their crib to the office we won’t know peace on these roads.
— BLAZE Tales (@ItsBuddhaBlaze) September 1, 2016
His visit is expected to draw more attention to Kenya’s tech businesses and innovation on the spot.
Before coming to Nairobi, Zuckerberg was in Lagos, Nigeria where similarly met developers and entrepreneurs.
The visits mark his first time to sub-Saharan Africa.
