Twitter announced this week that it will be establishing its first African headquarters in the western country of Ghana in a bid to “improve and tailor” the platform’s services across the continent.
In a Monday blog post from Kayvon Beykpour and Uche Adegbite, who serve as Twitter’s Product Lead and Director of Product Management, respectively, the pair emphasized reasons as to why Ghana was chosen over other regions.
“Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate,” the statement reads.
“Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa.”
Along with the announcement, Twitter has opened up work-from-home opportunities for Ghanaians interested in joining the future office, including for those wanting to work within the company’s engineering, marketing and communications departments.
— Kayvon Beykpour (@kayvz) April 12, 2021
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, took to his platform to confirm the company’s newfound presence in Africa, thanking Ghana for accepting their offer.
— jack (@jack) April 12, 2021
However, Dorsey’s post was met with backlash from others who believed Nigeria was snubbed as a potential choice for the platform’s new headquarters.
— Humanity Pilot💙 (@blackboriginal) April 12, 2021
— Honourable Oke Umurhohwo (@OkeStalyf) April 12, 2021
— Philosopher King (@DphilosopherK) April 12, 2021
Nigeria is not out of the running to play host to competing social media platforms. In 2020, Facebook announced that it was considering opening a new office in Lagos, Nigeria, in the coming year. It would be the second Facebook office in Africa, with the first being established in Johannesburg, South Africa.
