Users on microblogging platform, X (formerly Twitter), will be able to make voice and video calls on the platform, anytime soon.

X owner, Elon Musk, who announced this yesterday, said the features, when introduced, would place X in direct competition with WhatsApp, Telegram and other social media apps offering the same services.

According to Musk, users would not need phone numbers to make calls on X. He said the features would work on different operating systems, including iOS, Android, Mac, and PC, meaning that users would also be able to make calls not only on their phones but also on computers.

Musk said: “Video & audio calls coming to X: Works on iOS, Android, Mac and PC, no phone number needed. X is the effective global address book that set of factors is unique.”

With this development, the rivalry between Musk and Mark Zuckerberg, Meta (Facebook) owner, who recently launched a Twitter-like app, Threads, is expected to be heightened.

Indeed, since Musk took over Twitter last October, he has introduced lots of changes to the platform including making the blue check mark a subscription-only feature, introducing community notes, monetization of content, and the recent change of the company’s name to X, among several other changes.

While statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed that there are 159 million Internet users in Nigeria as of June 2023, where 158 million explore the web through the GSM platform; 16, 897 users via the Fixed wired infrastructure; Internet Service Providers (ISPs), 208,612 users and 328,657 explored the web via Voice over Internet Protocol, Africa Facts Zone informed that as of the beginning of this year, X (Twitter) had 3.05 million users.

According to Africa Fact Zone, South Africa had 9.3 million X users to rank number one; Egypt ranked second with 5.15 million users, followed by Nigeria.

Morocco came fourth with 2.85 million X users; Kenya was fifth as of January with 1.35 million customers and Tanzania was sixth with 891,500 users.