Nigeria, Other Low-Income Nations to Pay Lower Subscription Fee for Twitter Verification

Elon Musk on Tuesday said Nigeria and other low-income nations will pay lower subscription fees for Twitter Blue as subscriptions will be based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP).

Purchasing Power Parity is an economic theory that ensures different nations paid an equal amount — evaluated based on purchasing power.

The pricing model is not new for global firms looking to break into emerging markets with weak household income and earnings like Nigeria. For instance, Netflix, Amazon Prime and other global companies had to lower their subscription fees to capture a reasonable market share in Nigeria. Nigerian customers are presently paying $2.90 or N1,200 for a basic subscription on Netflix per month, while U.S. customers are paying $9.

Similarly, Starlink, an Elon Musk-owned internet company, has already announced the same pricing strategy ahead of its launch in Nigeria. The company plans to sell Starlink starter kit to Nigerian customers for US$99, a sixth of the $599 that US customers pay.

In a Twitter post, Musk said the current system of appointing blue checkmark was wrong and power needs to return back to the people. The billionaire immediately backed his tweet with “Power to the People! Blue for $8/month.”

The amount quoted was lower than the $20 a month previously reported by Investors King and other media companies across the world. Suggesting that since the $20 wasn’t officially announced, erratic Elon Musk might have adjusted the price following the outcry that trailed the reports that leaked the details.

According to the world’s richest man, paying members, besides the blue checkmark, will also get priority in replies, mentions & searches. All these, he said will be important in defeating spam and scam.

He went on to add the ability to post longer videos & audio than the current 2 minutes and 30 seconds available to users. Also, he said paying members won’t be bombarded with ads as they will only get ‘half as many ads.’

Explaining why expanding the organisation’s revenue generation was imperative, Musk said more revenue will allow the company to reward content creators.

For public figures, the microblogging platform said there will be a secondary tag below their name, like the one for politicians.