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The social media company is recruiting for its first physical presence on the continent with plans to open an office soon.
Twitter is establishing its first physical presence in Africa by opening a base in Ghana.
The social media company is actively recruiting 11 people join the Ghana team in roles including product, design, engineering, marketing and communications.
It said that it is hiring on a work-from-home basis with a view to opening an office in the country eventually.
“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,” the company said.
Twitter cited Ghana’s support of free speech and an open internet as reasons for choosing the country as its African base. It also pointed to the country being appointed to host the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area, a free trade agreement among 54 African nations that came into effect in January.
The agreement “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,” Twitter said in a statement.
Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, welcomed the news with a tweet. “This is the start of a beautiful partnership between Twitter and Ghana, which is critical for the development of Ghana’s hugely important tech sector,” he said.
Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey has spoken frequently in the past of Africa’s importance to the future of tech and made plans to relocate to the continent after spending time in Ghana, Ethiopia, South Africa and Nigeria.
The company has supported several initiatives around Africa in the past including health and culture programmes such as Amref Health Africa in Kenya and the Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative, as well as Afrochella and the Hacklab Foundation in its new home of Ghana.
“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,” the company added in its statement.
