Top Tech Figures Showing Interest in Africa

“Africa will define the future,” says Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.

Seems like Dorsey’s New Year’s resolution was to get to know the continent.

Dorsey ended 2019 with an interesting announcement- the CEO shared that he plans to spend up to six months in the continent. That was all he said, sparing us from the specifics of his plan.

Many CEOs are eyeing the continent as they see it as a location with immense potential, thanks to technological disruption.

“Africa similarly presents some fundamental leapfrog opportunities that have been unlocked through the use of mobile phones and other technology platforms…we're seeing some of the smartest individuals from top academic institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere return to the African continent, thereby contributing to a growing talent pool of entrepreneurs and developers.” -Jim Breyer, Partner, Accel Partners

Top tech companies including Microsoft, Facebook, and Google all have accelerator programs in the continent. Africa has been deemed by many as the “future of payments,” and has seen a 40% increase in tech hubs in 2019.

“I believe Africa can do even better...its lack of infrastructure is an advantage, just as it was in China.” -Jack Ma, co-founder, Alibaba

(Twitter)

Not everyone was fond of the announcement.

Some question who will run the companies in his absence, while others bluntly called the move reckless.

Since his announcement, his Twitter and Square stocks have taken a hit. 2.4% and almost 4% drops, respectively, in the S&P 500 Index.