By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Nigerians have blamed President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to tackle the country’s harsh business environment and cumbersome regulations that contributed to why Twitter chose to locate its Africa headquarters in Ghana.
Ghanaians are jubilating over a stunning decision President Nana Akufo-Addo describes on Twitter as the start of a “beautiful partnership.”
But a Nigerian Twitter user, Moe Odele, a lawyer wrote: “One of our clients wanted to open shop in Nigeria for their West Africa office. Once we sent them a breakdown of the regulatory requirements for their industry (also tech), they hit us with ‘we will get back to you.’ We haven’t heard back since then.”
Twitter has snubbed Africa’s largest economy with a rapid growth and investment in its tech scene but which papers over the cracks of a stressful business environment highlighted back in 2018 when Google built an AI lab in Accra, Ghana rather than in Lagos, Nigeria.
According to NOI polls, 39.6 million Nigerians have a Twitter account, which is more than the entire 32 million population of Ghana.
CNN recalls that Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey capped a whirlwind tour of Africa in 2019 by pledging to move to the continent for several months in 2020.
Now it seems that his business will make that move first.
In a statement announcing the decision, Twitter described Ghana “as a champion for democracy, a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet.”
The social media giant also cited Ghana’s hosting of the secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as another reason for moving there, saying it aligns with “its ambition to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa.”
Akufo-Addo said “the choice of Ghana as headquarters for Twitter’s Africa operations is EXCELLENT news,” and described it as a “beautiful partnership between Ghana and Twitter and which is critical for the dev’t of Ghana’s hugely important tech sector.”
Difficult business environment
Some Nigerians blamed an “unconducive business environment” for Twitter choosing Ghana over Nigeria.
“Under @MBuhari our ease of doing business is so bad that it’s easier for terrorists to get phone lines than law-abiding residents.
“You can land at Ghana’s Kotoka Airport and get a SIM card at the airport. “But a camel has to pass through the eye of a needle to get one in Nigeria,” said Reno Omokri via Twitter, former aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Omokri was referring to the suspension of new phone lines registration because of government policy to link all active SIM cards in the country to a National Identity Number (NIN) for security reasons.
NIN registration is time consuming and the deadline has been extended multiple times, leaving new arrivals unable to obtain a local number, until at least May.
Another commenter, Onye Ajuju, said Twitter’s decision was justified and that Nigerians had a “bloated sense of entitlement.”
“It’s unbelievable seeing Nigerians throwing a tantrum because Twitter went to Ghana. The lack of awareness of how bad things are in the country, the bloated sense of entitlement, the unhinged expectations that everyone should accept Nigeria’s dysfunction… it’s incredible!” she said.
CNN recalls that in 2019 Ghana ranked 13 places higher than Nigeria in the World Bank’s ease of doing business index.
Google (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT) and Huawei are among international tech giants that have expanded their operations in Ghana, targeting software developers and young creatives on the continent.
In 2018, Facebook opened its first community hub space in Africa in Nigeria’s commercial city, Lagos, while announcing plans last year to open an operational office also in Lagos.
But for tech investors such as Iyinoluwa Aboyeji there are lessons to be learned if Nigeria will continue to attract much-needed foreign investment.
“We have to think carefully about the reasons why Twitter chose Ghana – not necessarily in the context of whether we want to bring Twitter to Nigeria or not, but in the context of what it will take for us to remain a competitive destination for investors,” Aboyeji told CNN.
“We need to start thinking very carefully about enhancing democracy and the rule of law, freedom of speech, and most importantly, our role in enabling the Africa Free Trade Agreement.
“It’s not enough for us to just be a big market… We have next door to us, a very competitive neighbor, who’s doing all the right things to make itself the hub of West Africa,” he added.
A more productive market
Another Nigerian tech entrepreneur and investor, Bosun Tijani, told CNN that Twitter simply chose a more productive market to run its Africa operations.
“While Nigeria has a huge market that Twitter would love to target, the business environment here is quite demanding… It’s strenuous… the cost of running a business here is high.
“But with the AfCFTA single market agreement which Africa is signed up to, a company like Twitter can choose to set up shop in a small market like Ghana – that gives the best opportunity for it to operate – and still serve the Nigerian market,” said Tijani, who heads a tech innovation lab, CcHUB.
From tourism to tech, Ghana has been actively courting investors from the diaspora and in particular African-Americans, some of whom were given citizenship and encouraged to return to their roots.
Ghana also ranked as the 43rd most peaceful country in the world, in the 2020 Global Peace Index, placing 104 spots ahead of Nigeria – which grapples with Boko Haram insurgency and periodic outbreaks of violence.
Ghana relishes Twitter’s surprise choice
The BBC adds that Twitter delivered a surprise for Africa when it said it was establishing a regional headquarters in Ghana, triggering vigorous debate about the business environment for technology start-ups across the continent.
For the social media giant, its decision was based on shared values – Ghana supports “free speech, online freedom, and the open internet.”
The fact it also serves as the HQ for AfCFTA – established to accelerate intra-African trade and freedom of movement – seems to have cemented Ghana’s appeal as a gateway to the region.
Ghana was a way of becoming “more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent”, Twitter said.
Akufo-Addo was quick to retweet the news, saying it was the start of a “beautiful partnership” and critical for the development of Ghana’s tech hub. “These are exciting times to be in, and to do business in Ghana.”
Yet many industry leaders were initially stunned.
“In Africa what has generally been considered the tech hubs of the continent have traditionally been Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya,” says Kenya-based Kagure Wamunyu, who leads the expansion of Kobo 360, a digital haulage start-up that connects freight owners with lorry drivers.
Kenya in particular, she says, has successfully nurtured an enabling environment for the technology ecosystem and leads the pack when it comes to high levels of internet penetration.
“So it was an interesting choice, but the move to Ghana is still a win for the continent.”
Quality of leadership
On reflection, Nigerian tech pioneer Femi Longe agrees Ghana was an obvious choice.
“Nigeria is a big attractive market but if we’re honest it’s a very harsh place to do business. Ghana has invested quite a lot in recent years on creating an environment that is attractive for people coming from the outside,” he said.
Technical expertise is not just centred in the capital but in cities around the country.
Longe has worked in two of the continent’s most vibrant tech hubs; in Nigeria’s main city Lagos, he co-founded the Co-Creation Hub which then acquired Kenya’s iHub – another leading innovation centre.
He thinks the proactiveness of Ghana’s president clearly played a pivotal role in Twitter’s decision.
“If you look at Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria in terms of political stability and quality of leadership, there’s only one country that stands out.
“If a company is thinking about the potential impact of government policy, I would go with Ghana. Ghana is an access point to Nigeria, so you get the full benefits of access to the Nigerian market without any of the dysfunction that comes with being there.”
Nigeria ‘stifling entrepreneurship’
And Nigeria’s “dysfunction” became a talking-point after the announcement with start-up founders sharing their experiences.
Nigerian Information Minister Lai Mohammed blamed the media’s negative coverage of Nigeria for Twitter’s snub, saying: “This is what you get when you de-market your own country.”
Regulators need to think about the bigger picture and the long-term impact of these regulations and policies” – Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho, FutureSoft CEO.
However, some, such as Nkemdilim Uwaje Begho – the CEO of Lagos-based digital marketing firm FutureSoft – argue that the issues go far deeper in Nigeria, where policies tend to be reactive not enabling, failing to consult those who work in what is a thriving tech industry.
“Across sectors we’ve seen regulators step in to regulate after technology companies have disrupted the market,” she says.
“While regulation is good, what it sometimes means is that you’re creating barriers to entry by creating high licence fees for example. Regulators need to think about the bigger picture and the long-term impact of these regulations and policies.”
A recent example of regulation stifling entrepreneurship was the 2020 ban of commercial motorcycle taxis from core business and residential areas of Lagos – introduced as a number of internationally funded ride-hailing platforms, including Gokada, ORide and Max.ng, launched to service the huge demand.
Ghanaians meanwhile are hoping that their economy will bounce high on the Twitter trampoline – but also want to see local people being hired.
“It would be good to see if they introduce a quota, that maybe the government imposes to get them to recruit a certain percentage of Ghanaians,” says Regina Honu, who runs Soronko Academy, a digital skills development centre in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
Regina Honu hopes local talent will be hired by tech companies not just outsiders.
“With other organisations coming in you see a lot of diasporans returning and there will be lots of other Africans looking to come and work in Ghana. Hopefully, they will come in and engage with developing talent,” she tells the BBC.
Her organisation is among a number of companies flourishing within Ghana’s increasingly vibrant tech scene.
When George Appiah, executive director of Ghana Tech Lab, which helps develop innovation and entrepreneurial skills, started out almost a decade ago, there were only three technology hubs in Accra.
Ghana Tech Lab’s George Appiah says the tech industry has ballooned over the last decade.
Today there are around 50 across the country, including the company he founded, Kumasi Hive.
“Compared to other countries where you might find the tech space thriving in only one city like Nairobi or Lagos, in Ghana we have the ecosystem growing in such a way that you have a lot of start-ups in Kumasi, in Takoradi, in Tamale and then Accra. It’s very decentralised and that’s a testament to the depth of the ecosystem.”
In 2012 the government had very little interest in the sector, he says.
“Now we have a government who is appreciating the digital space and the role of tech start-ups.
“Efforts have been made gradually to provide policies to support start-ups. Local investments are growing over time.”
Hotbed of innovation
While this is laudable, Ghanaian entrepreneur Herman Chinery-Hesse tells the BBC that domestic technology firms are often undervalued while international companies are placed on a pedestal.
“Where are the Ghanaian ‘Twitters’? Are local companies being given the support that they need to also become ‘Twitters’?” – Herman Chinery-Hesse, The SOFTtribe.
He founded one of West Africa’s leading software development firms, the SOFTtribe, more than 25 years ago and says he would have expected to see more home-grown firms or African social media platforms with clout.
“Where are the Ghanaian ‘Twitters’? Are local companies being given the support that they need to also become ‘Twitters’?”
Despite these sentiments, Chinery-Hesse says he does believe there will be a “spill-over” in terms of jobs and a potential influx of foreign multinationals influenced by Twitter’s presence.
It all points to Ghana becoming the “hotbed of innovation”, as former senior Twitter executive Bruce Daisley puts it.
“I think it’s a real keen endorsement of Africa,” he says about Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s Ghana move.
“Jack was really inspired by the spirit of invention and the spirit of entrepreneurial creativity. I think this small baby step is a reflection of that.”