Google has announced that it would open its first ever Africa product development Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, as it prepares to service a growing number of internet users on the continent.
Africa will have 800 million internet users and a third of the world’s youth population by 2030, according to the California-based corporation, making it an appealing investment destination.
According to Suzanne Frey, vice president of products, and Nitin Gajria, head of Google Africa, in a joint blog post on Tuesday, Google is seeking engineers, product managers, user experience designers, and researchers to staff the new center.
Sundar Pichai, the firm’s CEO, announced in October that the company will invest $1 billion in various programs across the continent over the next five years to help economies accelerate their digital transformation.
It has already established an artificial intelligence center in Accra, Ghana, focused on solutions to diverse problems.
Microsoft has also invested $100 million in Kenya and Nigeria’s technological development centres, employing hundreds of engineers in both countries.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Google Global Services Nigeria have agreed to partner towards advancing broadband access in Nigeria.
The two organisations made the commitment when a delegation from Google Nigeria paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s Head Office in Abuja recently.
The meeting was intended to deliberate on viable collaborative interventions to improve digital transformation across Nigeria and the African continent.