India’s Koo eyes opportunity in Nigeria after country bans Twitter indefinitely

Nigeria suspended Twitter in apparent retaliation after the US-based company removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists.

Indian social networking company Koo is now eyeing a push in Nigeria after the African nation indefinitely suspended Twitter’s activities on Friday. Taking to Twitter, Koo co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna said that the new microblogging platform, a Twitter lookalike, is available in Nigeria and the Bengaluru-based company is considering enabling local languages too.

mid Twitter’s battle with the Centre, several union ministers have opened their account on India’s Koo. (Reuters)

"@kooindia is available in Nigeria. We're thinking of enabling the local languages there too. What say?" tweeted Radhakrishna.

Nigeria suspended Twitter in apparent retaliation after the US-based company removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists. Information minister Lai Mohammed cited “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria's corporate existence” as a reason to suspend Twitter operations.

Last month, Koo’s Radhakrishna said that his company was in discussions with investors to raise funding, hoping to close a deal within 3-4 months. The Twitter rival has seen a massive surge in user base in India but is still way behind the social media giant. In February, the social media company said that it had raised $4.1 million in series A funding from Accel, Kalaari Capital, Blume Ventures and Dream Incubator, and 3one4 Capital.

After Radhakrishna revealed the plan to enable local languages in Nigeria, many Twitter users came up with various suggestions. “That’s be fantastic. You very well could take the market share there. Give govt officials executive handles & so on. Maybe Create adverts asap & Promote it there? & on app stores as well?” a user replied.