Out of the 54 countries in Africa and the four visited by Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, Ghana was the top pick for the New York-listed microblogging and social networking service company as it has announced that its first office in Africa will be located in the West African country.
In his visits to Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Ethiopia, Dorsey has said he wants to better understand Africa’s internet users, many of whom are moving online for the first time.
“Twitter is now present on the continent. Thank you, Ghana and Nana Akufo-Addo,” Dorsey said in a tweet on Monday.
The San Francisco-based company is not only setting up its presence in Ghana but is hiring its first product and engineering team in Africa, an effort to expand its workforce in emerging markets where the social-media company hopes to attract new users.
Kayvon Beykpour, Twitter’s head of product, announced the plans in a blog post, calling the effort an “exciting” part of the company’s growth strategy.
“To truly serve the public conversation, we must be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent,” he wrote.
Responding to Twitter’s decision to settle in Ghana, Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo said, the choice of Ghana as headquarters for Twitter’s Africa operations is excellent news.
“Government and Ghanaians welcome very much this announcement and the confidence reposed in our country,” he said
Akufo-Addo also revealed that he held a virtual meeting with Dorsey on the 7th of April, where the two parties might have finalized the deal.
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“As I indicated to Jack in our virtual meeting on 7th April 2021, this is the start of a beautiful partnership between Twitter and Ghana, which is critical for the development of Ghana’s hugely important tech sector. These are exciting times to be in and to do business in Ghana,” he added.
Below are the reasons why the 15 years Twitter with a market capitalization of over $56 billion choose Ghana over other countries like Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy which is home to some of the continent’s youngest population.
Champion for democracy
Describing Ghana as a champion for democracy, Twitter said in a document titled ‘Establishing Twitter’s presence in Africa’ that Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate.
This practice of democracy is a top reason why Twitter settled for Ghana. As a demonstration of its support for democracy, Dorsey had weighed in during the anti-police brutality #ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in 2020.
Dorsey, who also runs payments company Square Inc., has a deep interest in cryptocurrencies. Some industry players believe Africa is a key market for digital payments.
“Africa will define the future (especially the bitcoin one!)” Dorsey tweeted in 2019.
The recent ban by the Central Bank of Nigeria that restricts financial services from supporting cryptocurrencies businesses in Nigeria may have also influenced Dorsey’s choice to look away from Nigeria as Square in February, purchased about 3,318 bitcoins at an average price of $51,236, which signals remarkable confidence in bitcoin as it races to record heights.
The Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area
According to Twitter, Ghana’s recent appointment to host The Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with its overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support its efforts to improve and tailor its service across Africa.
The free-trade area is the largest in the world in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organization. Accra, Ghana serves as the Secretariat of AfCFTA and was commissioned and handed over to the AU by the President of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo on August 17, 2020, in Accra.
Infrastructure/Security
Even though Twitter did not say for sure, infrastructure challenges coupled with the insecurity in Nigeria which was heightened by the recent police harassment of young Nigerians working in the technology industry were some of the reasons why many Nigerians believe Twitter didn’t settle for a location in Nigeria.
Twitter’s presence holds economic benefit for the economy of Ghana and its population.
“Whenever we enter new markets, we work hard to ensure that we are not just investing in the talent that we hire, but also investing in local communities and the social fabric that supports them,” Twitter said.
It said it has already laid foundations through partnerships with Amref Health Africa in Kenya, Afrochella in Ghana, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) in Nigeria, and The HackLab Foundation in Ghana as part of its long-term commitment to the region.
It added that it will continue to explore compelling ways it can use the positive power of Twitter to strengthen its communities through employee engagement, platform activation, and corporate giving.
