Tech
executive declared plan to move temporarily in 2020 following a month-long
visit to entrepreneurs on the continent
 |
| Jack Dorsey on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on 5 September 2018. Photograph: José Luis Magaña/AP |
Twitter chief Jack Dorsey said this week that he plans to move to Africa for up to six months next year. The tech executive announced the planned move following a month-long trip visiting entrepreneurs on the continent.
“Sad to be
leaving the continent … for now. Africa will define the future (especially the
bitcoin one!),” Dorsey tweeted from Addis Ababa on Wednesday. “Not sure where
yet, but I’ll be living here for 3-6 months mid 2020. Grateful I was able to
experience a small part.”
Asked for
comment, Twitter said in an email: “We’ve nothing to share beyond Jack’s
initial tweet.”
Dorsey
began traveling Africa on 8 November and visited Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and
South Africa, CNN reported.
In
Ethiopia, he listened to startup pitches. In Nigeria, he had meetings with
entrepreneurs and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a Twitter board member who formerly
worked as managing director of the World Bank.
Software
developer Dara Oladosu, who created the Twitter bot Quoted Replies, which
aggregates comments on tweets, received a job offer after meeting company
executives, CNN said.
Dorsey also
met bitcoin business owners in Ghana. Dorsey has expressed plans to integrate
bitcoin use on Twitter and the payment app Square, according to CNN.
Africa’s
tech industry is presently experiencing rapid growth. GSMA, a mobile services
industry group, said there were 618 “active tech hubs” on the continent this
year, up 40% from 2018. According to GSMA, Nigeria and South Africa have the
most, with 85 and 80, respectively.
The Kenyan
tech entrepreneur John Karanja launched BitHub, an incubator for
cryptocurrencies, in 2015. Ethiopia’s government reportedly hopes that a
tech-centric economy could create 3m jobs.
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