Truecaller opens its first Africa office in Nairobi

david nganga

February 27, 2018 5:36 PM

The firm says the decision was informed by the high number of subscribers in Kenya

Swedish caller ID firm Truecaller has picked Kenya as its new head office for the African region.

The company on Wednesday said it will be headquartered in Nairobi with the decision to set up base in Kenya informed by the high number of subscribers in the country.

“Over the years, Kenya has consistently been a top market for us, with some of our highest usage globally, which is why it made sense for us to set up a strategic headquarters in Nairobi.

"With this positive momentum of growth, we look forward to bringing new, innovative and localized services and offerings, and expand our presence and start engaging more deeply with the tech eco-system,” said the firm's director of partnerships, Africa, Zakaria Hersi.

The software application, popular with helping identify unknown phone numbers, has garnered six million users in the country to date.

Last year, the app released statistics indicating that Truecaller is blocking and filtering out more than 4.4 million calls and 14 million spam SMS's on a monthly basis in the country.

According to Hersi 91 percent of spammers are scams.

He said the firm is also bringing Truecaller identity on feature phones in the Kenyan market by partnering with local mobile voice service providers.

david nganga