Move will provide employment opportunities for locals and drive technological innovation
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Microsoft has launched its first Africa Development Centre (ADC) to provide employment opportunities for locals and drive technological innovation on the continent.
According to a recent Microsoft article, the initial sites in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria will serve as a base where African industry leaders can create solutions on a local and global scale.
“The ADC will be unlike any other existing investment on the continent,” said Phil Spencer, executive sponsor of the ADC and executive vice president at Microsoft. “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 partners, academia, governments and developers – driving impact in sectors important to the continent, such as fintech, agritech and OffGrid energy.”
Microsoft is looking for engineers across Africa to staff the centre and drive artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and mixed reality innovation. By the end of 2019, the firm expects to recruit 100 full-time employees, expanding to 500 by 2023.
The ADC is also partnering with local universities to create a relevant curriculum on the edge and cloud that is unique to Africa. Graduates will be able to use the ADC to pursue a career in data science, AI, mixed reality, application development and more.
“Our desire is to recruit exceptional engineering talent across the continent that will build innovative solutions for global impact,” said Michael Fortin, corporate vice president at Microsoft and leading the search for the engineering team in Nairobi. “This also creates opportunities for engineers to do meaningful work from their home countries and be plugged into a global engineering and development organisation.”
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