Social media giant, Twitter is setting up its first African office and it will be in Ghana.
The announcement was made through a tweet by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey where he thanked the president of Ghana Nana Akufo-Addo. The tweet also included a link to a post on Twitter’s official blog written by Kayvon Beykpour, Product Lead at Twitter, and Uche Adegbite, Director, Product Management, Global Markets.
What does this move mean?
For the most part, it means that Twitter will have a base in Africa and will be hiring local talent for roles.
An excerpt from the blog reads: “Today, in line with our growth strategy, we’re excited to announce that we are now actively building a team in Ghana. 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.”
According to the post, Twitter will be hiring across several teams including product, design, engineering, marketing and communications. Successful applicants will be onboarded remotely until there is an opportunity to open a physical office in Ghana.
So why Ghana?
When Jack Dorsey had his African tour in 2019, he visited Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and Ethiopia. For a lot of people this pointed at the possibility of a move into the continent. Now that the move is happening, one does wonder why Ghana was the choice of the countries visited.
Twitter’s blog post answers that question: “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.”
The post also cites Ghana’s appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as a key indicator of the country’s importance in establishing Twitter’s presence across Africa.
Regarding their move into this new market, investing in these markets is key and Twitter has already had partnerships with several impactful African organisations including Amref Health Africa in Kenya, Afrochella in Ghana, Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) in Nigeria, and The HackLab Foundation in Ghana.
The company says it plans to “continue to explore compelling ways we can use the positive power of Twitter to strengthen our communities through employee engagement, platform activation, and corporate giving.”
With Twitter on the continent, Africans can look forward to content and experiences more tailored to them. Twitter’s staff roles for the Ghana team can be found here.