Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday unveiled the Microsoft Africa Development Centre (ADC) in Nairobi, reported CGTN Africa.
Located at Dunhill Towers in Westlands, Nairobi, the 27 million U.S. dollar facility will house the design, research, engineering, and innovation teams, as well as the Microsoft Garage, an incubation hub launched as part of the ongoing efforts to scale tech innovation in the continent.
The ADC is one of the largest software engineering facilities in Africa and sets the standard for a new generation of technology hubs across the continent.
“As a premier centre of research and development for Microsoft, we all remain confident that you – together with our young men and women – will build a local world-class talent and create innovative technological solutions that will yield global positive impacts,” Kenyan President Kenyatta said.
The centre has been built in a similar style to Microsoft’s global offices to optimise space utilisation, air conditioning, and lighting adjustments as in line with the software giant’s global goal to be net carbon negative by 2030. It also has self-heating windows, a mini solar plant to power the facility, and a water treatment facility to recycle and purify the water.
“One of our proud achievements in developing this facility was during the construction phase when we hired over 100 builders, artisans, architects, artists, craftsmen, women groups, and other skilled and unskilled workers, all during the height of the COVID pandemic,” said ADC managing director Jack Ngare.
President Kenyatta said Microsoft has created full-time time jobs for Kenyans in the fields of software development, programme management, technical design, content writing, operations, research and applied sciences as part of the mutually beneficial partnership between the Kenyan governments.
Microsoft has also teamed up with local universities and start-ups to provide training and skills to create job opportunities for over 200,000 young Kenyans in support of the digital economy.
