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| Ime Archibong, Facebook's Director of Strategic Partnership |
Call him Zuckerberg’s deputy and you
would not be far from the truth, because they seem to be Siamese twins in
fashioning new ideas that have transformed Facebook into something much more
than a social media initiative. The fact that they are beside each other at
every trip and event Facebook is expected to play active part, says it all.
During a chat with journalists prior
to his coming to Nigeria alongside his boss, Mark Zuckerberg, he opened up on how Facebook sees Nigeria and what
benefits the multi-billion dollar company can derive from the visit.
He said: “One
of the things I had walked away with having spent time with many Nigerian young
entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners I have met over time is the energy in
their hustle. It really inspired me. “I knew some of them who studied in the
United States and decided to come and settle in Nigeria. But they are doing
something really interesting in the ecosystem. I was really blown away by their
dedication to transforming Nigeria.
“Despite the challenges
prevalent in the environment here and indeed on the rest of this continent,
there is still a lot of creativity coming out from this part of the world. I
sit and scratch my head looking at the geniuses that come out of here despite
the conditions and wondering what they can do in better conditions. In a non
personal capacity, I also want to learn and understand what is on the ground.
It is an opportunity for Facebook to add value to what they are trying to do.
More importantly, it is part of a listening and learning process for us to
really appreciate what is happening around from fellow tech minds.”
However, he also revealed another
side of him that is not known to many; Archibong is a full blooded Akwa
Ibomite. But in his entire adult hood the tech expert has only visited his
country, Nigeria, twice. For him, it is an exciting experience and he relished
the idea of home coming like a toddler could relish his Christmas clothes.
“I am happy to be home. We
are doing some sort of town hall meeting with some tech entrepreneurs and
developers and specifically sharing Facebook’s ten year road map with them. I
have been in Nigerian a few times, my father is from Uyo, Akwa Ibom but he grew
up in Aba, Abia State. My mum is from Enugu. So, we spent a lot of time going
back and forth when we came home for the holidays in those days. During my last
visit, we were able to work in Nigeria and launch an internet.org initiative in
Nigeria; that was the first time I was here by myself. So this second coming is
so important to me in so many ways,”
he added.
Archibong is truly a big boy both in
body size and in terms of portfolio he controls at Facebook. As the Director of
Strategic Partnerships, he leads the team focused on accelerating Facebook’s
product strategy by establishing partnership, driving product integrations and
unlocking new business opportunities with leading companies across multiple
industries and sectors. He also supports the Internet.org team, leading their
global partnerships work with developers and content creators that will
accelerate the next 5 billion people coming online.
Prior to joining Facebook, Ime was
an Advanced Technology Business Development Professional at IBM, focused on
licensing IBM’s global portfolio of storage research technology. He started his
career at IBM as a software engineer in the Systems and Technology Group before
transitioning to the corporate strategy team, and then eventually the business
development team.
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