Top 6 Tech Companies in the World and Where They Are Located in Africa

Top 6 Tech Companies in the World and Where They Are Located in Africa

Popular social media company Twitter announced on Monday, April 12, that it would be opening its first Africa office in Ghana. The company has joined Facebook and other tech giants moving into Africa.

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Briefly News presents the top tech companies in the world and where they are located in Africa.

1. Apple

Tech giant Apple announced plans to open its headquarters and first official store in Africa. It will be in Egypt.

Top tech companies in the world and where they are located in Africa, Twitter chooses Ghana over Nigeria
Apple is a tech giant which was founded on April 1, 1976. Photo credit: Costfoto/Barcroft Media
Source: Getty Images

2. Twitter

Twitter's Africa headquarters will be sited in Ghana. The company announced it would recruit 11 people in the West African country.

Top tech companies in the world and where they are located in Africa, Twitter chooses Ghana over Nigeria
Twitter will be hiring 11 people for its Ghana office. Photo credit: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket
Source: Getty Images

3. Amazon

The tech giant opened offices in South Africa in 2015.

Top tech companies in the world and where they are located in Africa, Twitter chooses Ghana over Nigeria
Amazon was founded on July 5, 1994. Photo credit: Jeff Halstead/Icon Sportswire
Source: Getty Images

4. Google

Google's first African Artificial Intelligence lab was opened in Ghana in 2019.

Top tech companies in the world and where they are located in Africa, Twitter chooses Ghana over Nigeria
Google has 135,301 employees around the world. Photo credit: Cezary Kowalski/SOPA Images/LightRocket
Source: Getty Images

5. Facebook

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Facebook opened its African headquarters in South Africa in 2015.

The company's first Africa software engineering office will be opened in Nigeria in 2021. According to Facebook, the office will be home to several teams across its business including sales, partnerships, policy and communications.

Top tech companies in the world and where they are located in Africa, Twitter chooses Ghana over Nigeria
Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. Photo credit: Omar Marques/SOPA Images/LightRocket
Source: Getty Images

6. Microsoft

Microsoft opened its first Africa data centres (Africa Development Centre) in Kenya and Nigeria in 2019.

Top tech companies in the world and where they are located in Africa, Twitter chooses Ghana over Nigeria
Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. Photo credit: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket
Source: Getty Images

There were mixed reactions as Twitter announced preparation to open its African headquarters in Ghana. A blog post on Twitter's official website was attached to Dorsey's tweet giving further details.

"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," the post read.

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The post further explained Twitter's choice of Ghana as the Africa headquarters, saying:

"As a champion for democracy, Ghana is a supporter of free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet, of which Twitter is also an advocate. Furthermore, Ghana’s recent appointment to host The Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area aligns with our overarching goal to establish a presence in the region that will support our efforts to improve and tailor our service across Africa."

Many tweeps flooded the comment section of @AfricaFactsZone to share their thoughts.

@Smoocho1 said:

"They will turn this post into a fight! Especially Nigerians, Ghanaians and South Africans! You won’t see Egyptians coming to fight!"

@anythingvisa commented:

"Nigeria should be home to all these companies as the giant of Africa."

@josserich wrote:

"Is Twitter in their right senses? Why Ghana? How many Twitter users are in Ghana?"

@Iam_ChrisAustin said:

"Who convinced Facebook to build it in Nigeria, because they might regret it later."

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Kelly Lippke avatar

Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.