It was not supposed to be this way: “Today, in line with our growth strategy, we’re excited to announce that we are now actively building a team in Ghana. 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.” People, Ghana is Twitter Africa’s headquarters!
Lagos state is bigger than Ghana’s economy and across all domains most would have expected Nigeria to be Twitter’s destination. But as I have written here – our technophobic attitude of banning things will influence decisions by many leaders. People expect regulations to deal with issues, and not absolute ban. The cryptocurrency ban diminished the perception that Nigeria has the readiness to handle complexity in its markets.
Ghana, Kenya, and other African countries have not collapsed because of cryptocurrency. And with an apostle like Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, Nigeria disqualified itself for those good jobs and tax naira that Twitter would have brought to the nation. Would you expect Tesla’s boss to use Nigeria to serve its West African market in future? Your first leg during a dance should reveal how ready you are!
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I want to congratulate Ghana for its diplomacy. It is positioning itself the way Israel has positioned itself to serve the United States. In Israel, you do not build for the nation, rather, you plan from day 1 on how to reach the American market. Today, most of Ghana’s companies are focused on the Nigerian market – and they are making real progress.
?? Twitter is now present on the continent.
Thank you Ghana and @NAkufoAddo. #TwitterGhana https://t.co/tt7KR3kvDg
— jack (@jack) April 12, 2021
If you check some of the jobs, they are designed for the Nigerian market.
Nigerians Kick As Twitter Announces Ghana As Its Africa’s Headquarters
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Nigeria seems to be the only country with large population but remains unattractive to outsiders, even insiders.
So, with all our noise, lip service, notice me, mouth service, show off, etc, people from the other side still don’t take us seriously; that should call for soul searching.
If we get a cumulative FDI of less than ten billion dollars per annum, we will be rolling out red carpets, with lots of owambe, plus azonto and shaku shaku dances everywhere; just to tell you how little we have become. We have accepted wholeheartedly that an FDI of $100 billion is not possible here!
With all the ‘smart people’ we produce, and all the graduates scattered across the globe, yet no one really feels that the land that produces these things deserves a serious attention.
Looks like the gods have rejected us, even our offerings.
Sad!
Ghanaian companies are not solely focused on the Nigerian market. We are focused on the afcta which Nigeria is a part of. Granted, ghana investment promotion center is trying to lure Nigerian companies and factories to set up base in Ghana for the Nigerian market.