Google has built its first product development centre in Africa, in Nairobi, with the goal of developing goods and services for the African market as well as the rest of the globe.
After establishing an AI and research centre in Ghana in 2019, the centre is Google’s second big research and development investment in Africa.
Over the next two years, Google plans to recruit over 100 professionals, including software engineers, researchers, and designers. This will aid in the resolution of challenging and technological issues such as enhancing the smartphone experience for Africans or constructing a more dependable internet infrastructure.
Google is the latest company to open an innovation centre in Nairobi, joining a growing number of digital behemoths. Visa announced the opening of its first innovation centre to co-create payment and commerce solutions with partners two weeks ago, just after Microsoft opened a research and development centre in Nairobi.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), an Amazon subsidiary that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms, recently announced intentions to open an AWS local zone in Kenya. The new AWS Local Zone in Kenya will join the other 16 existing AWS Local Zones in the United States, as well as another 32 AWS Local Zones set to open in 26 countries across the world beginning in 2022.
