Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey In Kenya Ahead Of Jamhuri Day [PHOTOS]

Dorsey, who was among the founders of the social media platform before it was sold to Elon Musk, had paid a surprise visit to...

Marvin Chege Marvin Chege
Dec 9, 2022 - 09:54 Updated: Dec 9, 2022 - 11:26
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Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey In Kenya Ahead Of Jamhuri Day [PHOTOS]
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey visits Kenya on December 8, 2022. /TWITTER

Twitter founder and former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey landed in Kenya on Thursday, December 8.

Having already toured parts of Nairobi, Dorsey, who was among the founders of the social media platform before it was sold to Elon Musk, had paid a surprise visit to Crazy Grill in Parklands for a meal.

He later met tech enthusiasts at iHub in Kilimani, Nairobi, and shared photos of the visit without revealing many details regarding the purpose of his visit.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey visits Kenya on December 8, 2022. /TWITTER

However, from Kenyans On Twitter (KOT) who shared details of the visit, Dorsey spoke with regards to the tech space in Nairobi and Africa.

He also opened up on how he managed to build successful tech products, Twitter being among them as well as Cash App, a mobile payment service available in the United States and the United Kingdom that allows users to transfer money to one another using a mobile phone app.

He had retained a 2.4% stake at Twitter after the social media company was sold for $44 billion (Ksh5.4 trillion).

“Amazing reunion at iHub organised by Erik Hersman. Excited to meet all the Kenya tech ecosystem founding members as we learn from Jack on running Twitter, CashApp and Square,” said tech enthusiast Sam Gichuru.

The visiting tech billionaire was impressed by the tech community in Kenya, saying that the ‘west’ had much to learn from Nairobi and Africa at large.

Interestingly Gichuru, the founder of Kidato, had expressed his dream of meeting the tech guru back in 2019 when he invited him to Kenya in a tweet.

According to the latest data by Forbes, Dorsey is worth a whopping $4.2 billion (Ksh500 billion).

In the same capacity, Dorsey raised $2 million (Ksh245 million) in seed investment into Gridless Inc. The funds were raised through Dorsey's Block, Inc. in collaboration with bitcoin-focused venture firm Stillmark to support the Kenya-based firm that focuses on bitcoin mining. 

Griddles operate bitcoin mining sites alongside small-scale renewable sites for the distribution of affordable energy to rule communities in Kenya and Africa. 

Dorsey is one of the top supporters of Bitcoin and champions the adoption of the flagship cryptocurrency in Africa and globally. 

His visit comes amidst President William Ruto's plan to invite leaders in the global technological space drawn from Facebook and Google to the Jamhuri Day celebrations set for Monday, December 12 in line with one of his promises to create a digital superhighway in the country.

"I deliberately decided that this year’s Jamhuri Day is going to be profiled properly and themed as the innovation Jamhuri Day.

"Instead of inviting the usual people who we invite, I have decided to invite our technology leaders worldwide from Facebook and Google, so that we can share with them the opportunities that exist in a world that is increasingly becoming digital," Ruto said.

President Ruto at the Kabete National Polytechnic on December 6, 2022. /STATE HOUSE KENYA