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Facebook, the American social media giant, announced today that Chris Cox, the company’s Chief Product Officer, is a special guest at the ongoing Social Media Week event in Lagos. The San Francisco-based company said Cox will be the most senior Facebook executive to visit Nigeria since Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s CEO, visited Lagos in September of last year.

While speaking at the Social Media Week, Cox highlighted Nigeria’s status as a hub for innovation and creativity because of its fast-growing mobile technology sector and its vibrant film and music industries. He focused on how the world is moving to digital video, with formats such as virtual reality, live video broadcast and 360 video giving people new ways to tell their stories.

“Stories matter, whether it’s the stories of our lives or the story of Africa’s growth and ascendance” said Cox. “We want Nigeria’s storytellers — the musicians, the filmmakers, the novelists — to take their stories to the rest of the world. The explosion in mobile video and live video, gives people a new way to share their story and perspective with the globe – and this is happening on Facebook.”

Social Media Week Lagos is an annual week-long conference that features speeches, workshops and panels to help people and businesses understand how to operate in a hyper-connected world. This year’s event is holding from February 24th to March 3rd.

The Facebook executive arrived Nigeria on Sunday and attended New Afrika Shrine to watch a performance of Femi Kuti, one of his musical heroes. Kuti's hour-long performance was streamed live on Facebook and Cox was invited to play keyboards for one song.

Cox said content creators like Kuti are using Facebook to bring fans into their lives and extend their presence beyond the stage and recorded media. He also said innovators like Afrinolly are using virtual reality and 360-degree video to create exciting and compelling new storytelling formats.

“I’m looking forward to hearing more about how Nigerian creatives, developers and entrepreneurs are using mobile technology, video and Facebook platforms to create inspiring applications and services for their customers and communities. The level of innovation we see in this market is amazing. As Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria is an important market for us,” said Cox. 

Facebook said it has started accepting Nigerian Naira cards for payments on its ads platform in keeping with a promise made by Zuckerberg last year.

“With 8.6 million people in Nigeria using Facebook on mobile every day, Facebook is a great place for businesses to reach their customers. We’re listening to our community of partners, developers, advertisers and content creators to understand what we can build to best serve their needs,” the Facebook CPO added.

In addition to Nigeria, Cox will also be visiting Ghana and Senegal as part of a week-long West Africa tour to learn how Facebook can better serve the region’s content creators, entrepreneurs, and developers.