Twitter has announced that it will set up its Africa headquarters in Ghana, a country it says supports free speech, online freedom and an open internet.
In a blog post Monday, Twitter announced that it was building a team in the West African nation. The new team will include product, design, engineering, marketing, and communications specialists.
“As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate,” read the statement.
“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 added.
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Twitter founder Jack Dorsey visited Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, and South Africa in 2019 and said, “Africa will define the future.” He later said that the move to set up an Africa office had been delayed in part by the coronavirus outbreak.
During his trip to Africa, Dorsey visited tech incubators, universities and tech companies, meeting African entrepreneurs and fellow Bitcoin and cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Making the announcement about moving to Africa, Dorsey tweeted, “Twitter is now present on the continent” next to a flag of Ghana.
Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a tweet that Twitter’s decision to set up the headquarters there was a key step in the development of its tech sector. He said he had a virtual meeting with Dorsey on April 7.
“Gov’t and Ghanaians welcome very much this announcement and the confidence reposed in our country,” he wrote.
“As I indicated to @Jack in our virtual meeting of 7th April 2021, this is the start of a beautiful partnership between Twitter and Ghana, which is critical for the dev’t of Ghana’s hugely important tech sector.
“These are exciting times to be in, and to do business in Ghana,” the president added.
Twitter said its new team members in Ghana will be working remotely according to work-from-home policies during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It said it has explored “the opportunity to open an office in Ghana in the future”.
