Microsoft opened its first offices in Africa almost three decades ago. Today the continent has witnessed an incredible growth in internet connectivity, digital capability and innovation changing the way Africans bank, farm and access healthcare. Continuing its expansion in Africa, that is adopting technology fast, Microsoft has launched its first Africa Development Centre (ADC). The expected investment of ADC is around US $100 million over the first five years. This is reportedly the first Global Development Centre in Africa where world-class African talent can create solutions for local and global impact. The two initial sites will be located in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria. Recently, Microsoft also opened Africa’s first hyper-scale data centres in South Africa, to promote business innovation in the cloud.
In a statement, Microsoft announced that it will hire more than 100 local engineers in both countries for the new centres to build applications using artificial intelligence, mixed reality and machine learning. By the end of the year, almost100 full-time engineers will be engaged. expanding to 500 across the two sites by 2023. Additionally, it proposes to collaborate with partners, academia, governments and developers, driving impact and innovation in sectors like financial technology, farming technology and off grid energy. It will also support Microsoft’s established businesses such as Office, Azure and Windows.
Global tech giants, including Alphabet Inc and Facebook, also have been increasing investment in Africa to tap into the rapidly rising rates of internet usage by Africa’s youthful population.
