Twitter CEO plans on spending three to six months in Africa

Date:4 December 2019 Author: Kyro Mitchell Tags:, ,

Following a month-long trip touring the African continent, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is ready to come back for an extended stay. Dorsey spent most of November meeting different African startups in the tech industry, and according to a tweet, he’s ready to commit three to six months of his time living somewhere in Africa.

During his time in Nigeria, Dorsey met with entrepreneur and former managing director of the World Bank Ngozi Okonojo-lweala. He also made time to speak with Dara Oladosu, a software developer who created a custom bot that aggregates specific comments on a selected thread on Twitter. The Ethiopian leg of the tour saw Dorsey meet with a variety of entrepreneurs, such as the inventor of Smart Beehive, a nutrient-rich hydro-plant system. Dorsey also visited South Africa, though it’s unclear who exactly he met with.

Dorsey’s sudden interest in Africa comes after the GSMA industry association reported earlier this year that Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the highest growth in wireless technology adoption, with significant economical growth and job creation tied to the mobile market. African leaders are also currently working on establishing the world’s largest free-trade zone, which could cover a market of 1.2 billion people. The African continent is also one of the fastest-growing regions for tech adoption thanks to an ever-growing middle-class market. Funding of African startups more than doubled last year to US$1.2-billion (around R30 billions), mainly driven by Fintech investments, according to a report from venture capital firm Partech Partners.

While investments from Dorsey are welcomed by African startups, Twitter’s investors are less convinced. Twitter’s shares have declined since Dorsey announced his plans, down about 2.4% since 27 November, and his other company payments firm Square, has fallen almost 4%.

Feature image:Twitter/@Jack

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