Ghana will soon become Twitter's new African home after the organisation's chief executive, Jack Dorsey completed a whirlwind tour of Africa in 2019. In a statement announcing the decision, Twitter described Ghana "as a champion for democracy, a supporter of free speech, online freedom and Open Internet".
The announcement that came on Monday reignited the never-ending rivalry between Ghana and Nigeria, known colloquially as the 'jollof wars'. Jollof is a piquant seasoned rice dish that's a medley of rice, tomatoes and spices. Its generally the main dish in most West African countries and the 'jollof wars' is basically a social media rivalry between Nigerian and Ghanaian styles of jollof rice.
Twitter's latest decision has intensified the battle of rice; this time around, Twitter users from Nigeria do not agree with Jack Dorsey's style. Nearly forty million Nigerians have a Twitter account, which is more than Ghana's population of thirty-two million. Apart from being the largest economy, Nigeria's technology industry is growing exponentially.
Good days lie ahead for Ghana. Besides hosting Twitter, Accra is already home to the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). That is another reason why Jack Dorsey opted for Accra and not Abuja. Twitter's presence in the region will enable the tech giant to improve their services across Africa, especially when they find themselves in the same neighbourhood with the secretariat of AfCFTA.
The 'jollof wars' may continue but the good news for Ghana and Africa as a whole is that; the single market agreement ushered in by AfCFTA allows companies like Twitter to set base in a small market like Ghana and still serve the Nigerian market, either way, it's a win-win for Africa.
A large territorial base and a high population density does not mean a country automatically qualifies to host big companies. Investors are attracted to good governance, democracy, the rule of law and not rule by law, strong institutions, modern infrastructure and industries.
It's embarrassing to hear that African countries (very close neighbours for that matter) are in a "war" to host the headquarters of some western social media platform, instead of creating and celebrating home-grown platforms. While Nigeria has a growing market that Twitter would want to target, Twitter is fully aware that, no matter what happens, they will not loose their Nigerian users.
As a matter of fact, Nigerians may complain, claim size and population, throw tantrums but all this will be happening on Twitter. Millions of Nigerians will continue to use the platform and more are likely to join-nothing lost there for Jack and his team.
The Global Peace Index in 2020 ranked Ghana as the 43rd most peaceful country in the world, 104 places ahead of Nigeria which grapples with the Boko Haram insurgency, violence and terror. Ghana is also thirteen places higher than Nigeria in the 2019 World Bank's ease of doing business index.
Tech giants such as Google and Huawei have expanded their operations in Ghana targeting software developers. Surely Twitter cannot be left at the back of the market-expansion race. Although Facebook has a community hub space in Lagos, Nigerians are throwing tantrums on social media, they are fuming about Twitter's decision; Why Ghana and not Nigeria?
There is no doubt that Ghana currently beats Nigeria in so many things; from security to electricity, Ghana is attracting investors from all walks of life, thanks to the leadership of President Nana Akufo-Addo. There are too many people to grease their elbows just to operate in Nigeria. Corruption is a total turn-off for serious investors.
Twitter's decision is a wake up call not only to Nigeria but the rest of Africa. African leaders should embrace mutual development, strengthen institutions, liberalize the markets in preparation of Africa's free trade market, enhance democracy and the rule of law and promote domestic initiatives to assure foreign investors.
I don't think Twitter coming to Ghana is for free and out of generosity; there will be a price to pay in the future. In the meantime Twitter's new move is a victory for Ghana but most importantly a win-win for Africa.
@stajicesimmz