When global social media giant Twitter announced that it had chosen Ghana as its African headquarters, many industry leaders were surprised.
“In Africa what has generally been considered the tech hubs of the continent have traditionally been Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya,” Kenya-based Kagure Wamunyu told the BBC.
But for the MFS Africa team, the choice made complete sense — because we’d made it before.
We have been in Ghana since 2011, pretty much from the beginning of MFS Africa, as our founder and CEO Dare Okoudjou puts it. We were drawn to the country by its combination of a relatively friendly regulatory environment, stable and good universities, and a commitment to supporting entrepreneurship.
All this gave us access to talent in a country that was already oriented towards digital money and which, unlike other countries, showed an impressive commitment to homegrown tech innovation.
Of course, back in 2011 this decision was a bit of a gamble on our part as a fledgling company. But we haven’t been disappointed. There were moments where the economy slowed down and things got a little difficult, but the broader trajectory has always been strong.
In the decade we’ve been in Ghana, we’ve seen how its capital city, Accra, has grown in prestige as a place to work for those within the continent seeking to relocate. It became increasingly attractive to English-speaking professionals relocating from South Africa, for example. For foreign investors, it started to compete with Nigeria and South Africa as a gateway to the continent: an English-speaking country in a majority French-speaking region that outsiders don’t find as intimidating as Nigeria.
Ghana’s economy also grew. This made it more than just a regional gateway: it is a place where you could and can do good business.
Then, of course, there is the quality of life: Accra is a lovely city to live in, both for young professionals and families.
Today we have close to 20 people at our Ghana offices. Over half of them work for our clients across the border. We will continue to grow our presence in the country.
That’s why Twitter’s move makes so much sense to us. As the company said in its announcement, it was drawn to the West African nation’s relative stability, respect for freedom of speech and commitment to free and fair electoral processes. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for many other African countries where governments have unleashed social media crackdowns during elections, shutting down social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook in attempts to silence dissent.
But the impact of Twitter’s decision won’t be limited to Ghana. It is a boon for the rest of the continent.
First, there are positive implications for tech talent on the continent. One of the problems MFS Africa has long grappled with is that there are just too few software developers to meet Africa’s growing fintech demands. This is partly because of the lack of exciting opportunities available to younger people who want to work for recognised brands. Instead, their post-university choices in the tech space were limited to working for mobile networks or banks. With Twitter setting up shop in the region, and others such as Amazon planning to do the same in other regions, more students will be drawn to study in these fields. That’s a win for the tech ecosystem.
Twitter will also provide an excellent training ground for the continent’s tech talent. Fast-forward to five years from now, and we’ll likely have more ex-Twitter employees on the continent, ready to build their own tech companies or join local companies doing exciting work. It will raise the bar all around, increasing the quantity and quality of entry-level talent and, eventually, management and senior management in the tech industry.
Finally, there’s the investment signal this announcement sends, especially to US-based and global investors. A company like Twitter putting down roots in Africa will have a similar effect to Microsoft setting up operations in India 25 years ago. That move created a domino effect for investment by other companies such as IBM, making India a global competitor in tech innovation. Today, India out-competes many countries in the West and Asia when it comes to tech innovation.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, speaking during his first visit to India in the late 90s, said that “India has what it takes to participate in, even to shape, the future if it makes the necessary investments now“. The country heeded his words and pushed for further investment into its universities, building a national telecommunications infrastructure and developing robust software industry. Similarly, Ghana has been investing heavily in its universities, producing quality graduates.
It’s testament to the hard work the country has put in. And it makes us that much prouder for having taken that gamble ten years ago. It’s paid off, and then some.
