Jack Dorsey: Twitter Founder In Kenya, Invests Quarter A Billion

Twitter founder and Square CEO Jack Dorsey is currently in Kenya.

The tech-entrepreneur was spotted at Crazy Grill restaurant in Parklands, Nairobi where he enjoying for a meal.

Dorsey also took photos with staff at the joint and shared on his Twitter page.

He later met with tech enthusiasts at iHub in Kilimani where he talked on building successful fin-tech products such as Twitter and Block Inc.

Dorsey also toured the Nanyuki equator line and visited the mini-hydro power station in Kahinduini where he interacted with locals.

“Powering a rural Kenya village and securing the Bitcoin network with excess hydropower, all while lowering rates to 2000 people (500 families, $10/month to $4,” he wrote on Twitter.

His visit comes days after he invested Ksh 245 million into a Kenyan start-up, Gridless Africa, through his company Block Inc.

Gridless designs, builds and operates bitcoin mining sites alongside small-scale renewable energy producers in rural Africa where excess energy is not utilized. 

The company has spent the last several months launching pilots across Kenya in which they work with mini-grid hydro and solar generators to use their excess capacity to mine.

“We had spent years building internet connectivity infrastructure in rural and urban Africa, and realized that you cannot have a 21st-century economy without both power and connectivity together,” CEO Eric Hersman said.

He added;

“As we looked at the next problem to solve, we realized that bitcoin mining solved a major problem for renewable mini grid energy developers, in that we could be their industrial off-taker for stranded power, no matter where they were located, thereby making them more sustainable and increasing electrification across Africa.”