Twitter lays off staff at its only Africa office in Ghana

Twitter has fired astir each its unit successful Ghana, which was location to its lone bureau successful Africa.

The steadfast "is re-organising its operations arsenic a effect of a request to trim costs," work Twitter's email, seen by the BBC.

The layoffs were portion of a planetary unit cull introduced by caller brag Elon Musk.

The Ghana bureau was opened to immoderate fanfare past twelvemonth with the institution saying it wanted to beryllium much "immersed" successful African conversations.

Ghana unit were sent messages astir the extremity of their contracts to their idiosyncratic accounts, aft being denied entree to enactment emails.

"It's precise insulting," 1 idiosyncratic who wanted to enactment anonymous told the BBC.

"From the message to the deficiency of adjacent steps to the code of the letter. Just everything. Ridiculously insulting," the unit subordinate continued.

There were conscionable nether 20 radical employed successful Ghana's Twitter bureau who were moving successful assorted roles from curation and selling to editorial, the BBC understands.

The termination of employment announcement indicates that the "last time of employment volition beryllium 4 December 2022".

This determination is against section labour laws which authorities that employers indispensable springiness employees astatine slightest 3 months' announcement earlier the termination of declaration date.

It is besides against the instrumentality successful Ghana to not connection redundancy pay, which the anonymous unit members said they person not received, but volition get their mean salary.

The missive from Twitter's absorption further warned unit not to "contact oregon woody with immoderate customers, clients, authorities, banks, suppliers oregon different employees of the Company and are required to pass the Company if contacted".

It besides told unit not to commence immoderate different employment oregon engagement until their past time with the organisation, portion wishing them the precise champion successful their aboriginal endeavours.

Mr Musk, Twitter's caller owner, has been laying disconnected unit worldwide. He said helium had "no choice" but to slash the company's workforce arsenic the steadfast was losing much than $4m (£3.5m) a day.

Last year, Twitter announced it was opening its archetypal Africa bureau successful Ghana successful a bid to "be much immersed successful the affluent and vibrant communities that thrust the conversations taking spot each time crossed the African continent", it said in an April 2021 statement.

At the time, Twitter had praised Ghana for "free speech, online freedom, and the Open Internet" with the quality adjacent being welcomed by Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo who described it arsenic "excellent".