Microsoft Corporation on Tuesday announced the company has planned to invest $100 million to open two Africa technology development centers in Kenya and Nigeria over the next five years. The Redmond-based company’s first development centers in Africa will open in Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya.
“The future of the world in terms of labor workforce is here in Africa and we started working about infrastructure that is needed in order to untap that opportunity and give the opportunity for all the African countries in order to do the bridging in the details cap,” said Jaime Galviz, Microsoft’s COO and CMO for the Middle East and Africa. “So one of the things we created is first we announced, like two months ago, a full data center in South Africa that creates infrastructure.”
According to Reuters, the software giant is planning to hire more than 100 local engineers by the end of this year to work in the new Africa facility in both countries to customize its applications for the African market and to develop new ones for the continent and beyond.
“In addition, it is an opportunity to collaborate with partners, academia, governments, and developers, driving impact and innovation in sectors important to the continent,” the company said in an official statement, citing financial technology, farming technology, and off-grid energy.
Microsoft said the engineers at the new Africa development center will develop applications using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and mixed reality innovation.
With six development hubs located in other parts of the world, the company said the new Africa development hub will support Microsoft’s established businesses such as Office, Azure, and Windows. As part of the initiative, the tech giant plans to grow its local developer pool to 500 by 2023.
