President welcomes Twitter office in Ghana

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has welcomed the decision of Twitter, the American microblogging and social networking service, to establish its African headquarters in Ghana.

Reacting to the announcement which was made by Twitter’s co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Jack Dorsey, on Twitter last Monday, the President said the development was the start of a partnership that would help develop Ghana's technological sector.

President Akufo-Addo also revealed that he held a virtual meeting with Mr Dorsey on April 7, 2021 before the deal was finalised.

In separate tweets, the Minister of Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, and the Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, also welcomed the development.

Mrs Owusu-Ekuful tweeted: "Twitter chooses Ghana as its regional hub of Africa!! Thumbs up for Digital Ghana! Great news for our local, vibrant tech community. We can’t wait to welcome others."

Mr Oppong Nkrumah tweeted: "#TwitterGhana is a big win for Ghana. This means more jobs and opportunities for our youth in the Tech space."

Announcement

Twitter, a 'microblogging' system that allows people to send and receive short posts called tweets, last Monday announced that it would establish its continental head office in Ghana.

“Today, in line with our growth strategy, we’re excited to announce that we are now actively building a team in Ghana,” Twitter said in a statement.

The social media site which has over 1.3 billion users said to truly serve the public conversation, it believed that the company had to be more immersed in rich and vibrant communities that drove the conversations taking place every day across the African continent.

Free speech

“As a champion of democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom and the open internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate. Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) 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,” it said.

A statement published on Twitter’s blogpost said whenever it entered new markets, it worked hard to ensure that the platform was not just investing in the talent that it hired, but also invested in local communities and the social fabric that supported it.

“We have already laid foundations through partnerships with Amref Health Africa in Kenya, Afrochella and The HackLab Foundation, both in Ghana, and Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) in Nigeria,” the statement added.

Corporate giving

According to the social media handle, as part of its long-term commitment to the region, the company would continue to explore compelling ways it could use the positive power of Twitter to strengthen its communities through employee engagement, platform activation and corporate giving.

“We still have much to learn, but we are excited to listen, learn and engage. Public conversation is essential to solving problems, building shared ideas and pushing us all forward together. We can’t wait for the next step on that journey,” the statement added.

Mission

Twitter stated that its mission was to serve the public conversation, and that it was essential for the world and for Twitter to increase the number of people who felt comfortable participating in it.

It said to do that, it needed to make it easier for everyone to join in and provide more relevant experiences for people across the world.

Employment

The social media handle said it was looking for specialists to join several teams, including product design, engineering, marketing and communications, and added that the full details on current job openings could be found on the Twitter Careers site.

It stated that aligned with its existing WFH policies, it was looking forward to welcoming and onboarding the new team members remotely so that it could make an immediate impact while it explored the opportunity to open an office in Ghana in the future.