Google has announced the opening of its first product development center in the city of Nairobi, Kenya; and its objective is to build “transformative” goods and services for the African market as well as the world. After launching its first Artificial intelligence and research facility in Ghana, Africa, in 2019, the Tech Giant is now expanding its presence on the continent.
Google’s Vice president for Products, Suzanne Frey who made the announcement, said the company will hire more than 100 high-tech employees who will help to lay the foundation for significant growth in the coming years. The roles include engineering managers, product managers, software engineers, senior UX sesigners or UX researchers, as listed in blog post.
According to Google, these would help solve difficult and important technical challenges, such as improving the smartphone experience for people in Africa, or building products that will help everyone to thrive together.
“If you have the talent, experience and appetite to join our team,” the company says, “and want to work on significant and impactful projects with us in Africa, for Africa and the world, you can view all our open opportunities on our site. We’re excited to see what we can build together.”
Along with strong technical skills and a desire to work on difficult problems, Google says you’ll need an understanding of how people throughout the continent use their phones on a daily basis and the challenges they encounter.
This follows Google’s announcement in October that it will invest $1 billion over the next five years. Visa’s first innovation center for co-creating payment and commerce solutions opened two weeks prior to this.
