As interest in the African tech ecosystem continues to thicken, Microsoft as one of the major players has launched development centers in Lagos and Nairobi. The launch of the $100 Million Africa Development Centers in Lagos, Nigeria, and Nairobi, Kenya comes after Microsoft recently launched its 1st Azure data centers in South Africa.
According to reports, the center plans to recruit 100 full-time engineers by the end 2019 and will rely on the diversity of Lagos and Nairobi’s tech landscape to build world-class talent capable of creating innovative solutions for global impact.
The Development centers will focus on various spheres of the tech ecosystem notably fintech, agritech, off-grid energy, mixed reality and artificial intelligence fields that have gained much traction across the continent over the last five years.
Microsoft’s Executive Vice President, Phil Spencer said, “the ADC will be unlike any other existing investment on the continent. It will help us better listen to our customers, develop locally and scale for global impact…. Beyond that, it’s an opportunity to engage further with African partners, academia, governments, and developers – driving impact and innovation in sectors important to Africa.”
Interestingly, cloud technology companies like Microsoft, Amazon.com Inc., and Huawei Technologies Co. are looking to expand in Africa to take advantage of growing telecommunications infrastructure and work in areas like e-commerce and mobile payments. Cloud rival Amazon, whose Amazon Web Services is larger than Microsoft’s Azure, is also opening a data center in Africa next year.
