February 18, 2024 at 4:36 PM GMT
The organization previously identified as Twitter has reached a settlement with discharged personnel from its sole African branch after approximately a year of negotiations.
The impacted workers in Accra, the capital of Ghana, were terminated in November 2022, mere weeks following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the company. Subsequently, they initiated discussions with the social media platform, now referred to as X, subsequent to their legal representatives’ request for adherence to local redundancy regulations.
“Agency Seven Seven has effectively led negotiations on behalf of former employees of Twitter Ghana Ltd. to secure a fair resolution and repatriation expenses for international staff,” declared the Accra-based agency, representing 11 former staff members, in a statement released late Saturday.
The agency responded to a Bloomberg email seeking comment with an auto-reply stating, “Busy now, check back later.”
Reversal of Fortunes The layoffs marked a stark reversal after Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo hailed the company’s establishment in 2021 as “the start of a promising relationship between Twitter and Ghana.” At the time, Jack Dorsey, then CEO, expressed intentions to relocate to the country “at some point.”
Just a little over a year following the opening of the Accra office, Musk, who acquired the company for $44 billion in October 2022, terminated nearly the entire African team as part of sweeping cutbacks—a move that dissolved a division previously viewed as integral to Twitter’s future.
Since Musk assumed control, thousands of employees worldwide have been laid off or voluntarily departed. In Accra, an initial termination notice stipulated a month’s notice without any mention of severance packages. A subsequent communication improved terms to a month’s notice plus two months’ severance. However, this fell short of the three-month severance offer tweeted by Musk on Nov. 4, 2022.
“At times, we experienced prolonged periods of silence from their end,” remarked Carla Olympio, a managing partner at Agency Seven Seven, during a Sunday phone conversation. “As with any negotiation process, there was a considerable amount of back-and-forth.”
Although the case attracted attention from Ghana’s Ministry of Employment, the final resolution was reached through direct discussions between the company and the legal representatives of the aggrieved employees, Olympio explained.
“My clients have demonstrated remarkable resilience throughout this arduous process,” Olympio disclosed, refraining from divulging specifics of the final terms. “They are relieved to conclude this chapter and focus on the future.”
One of the former Twitter Ghana employees reflected on their ordeal, underscoring the importance of standing up for oneself. “No one is going to fight for you if you aren’t willing to fight for yourself,” Norvisi Sokpe Ndon conveyed in a LinkedIn post reacting to the news.