Globally such micro-entrepreneurs account for 50-60% of all businesses, and in Africa nearly 90%, says Jussi Impio, the head of Nokia's African research arm, based in Nairobi.

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People outside the Silicon Valley micro-blogging company, such as Twitter account holders, reportedly were not affected in the incident.

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Jenny Quyen Ta , founder of Titan Securities, a broker-dealer in Dallas, was disciplined in 2010 for alleged misconduct that included using her Twitter account to tout stock in Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

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