“We must be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent,” Twitter said in a statement.
Twitter trails its largest rival, Facebook, which opened its first African office in Johannesburg in 2015 and plans to open a second in Lagos this year. The firm struck a deal with African telecom majors in 2020 to build one of the world’s largest subsea cable networks.
Nearly 59 percent of African internet users had Facebook accounts as of March 2021, StatCounter figures show, compared with 11.75 percent who have Twitter.
Twitter’s move was welcomed in Ghana, which has emerged as a hub for African startups alongside the continent’s technology frontrunners, South Africa and Nigeria.
“This is the start of a beautiful partnership between Twitter and Ghana,” Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo tweeted on Monday, saying its presence was crucial for the development of Ghana’s tech sector.