Overlooking Nigeria, which has the largest economy in Africa, Google recently announced the establishment of its first Africa product development center in Nairobi, Kenya.
The APDC being the first in the continent is tailored to build “transformative” products and services for the African market and the world.
The center will be Google’s second significant research and development investment in Africa after the tech giant set up an AI and research center in Ghana in 2019.
Google says it will hire about 100 tech talents in the following years to help solve complex technical challenges such as improving the smartphone experience in Africa or building more reliable internet infrastructure.
According to Google’s policy lead for Sub-Saharan Africa, Charles Murito, “Africa has been at the forefront of innovation, and we believe that we are going to continue to develop and innovate right here from the continent.”
Also, speaking on the center’s importance, Nitin Gajria, Managing Director for Google in Africa, said that Africa is strategic for the future of technology consumption and development across the globe.
“We have 300 million people on the internet in the region [Africa] today. We also know that in the course of the rest of this decade, we’re going to have another half a billion people who will experience the internet for the very first time, which is why it is incredibly important that we build products and experiences that are helpful to these people that are going to be experiencing the internet just in Africa.”
Nitin Gajria.
Furthermore, Google’s VP for Products, Suzanne Frey, explained that Nairobi, Kenya, was chosen because it helps Google achieve a balanced location spread across the continent. According to her, Google has shown a significant presence in West Africa by establishing its AI hub in Ghana.
“More so, we have a balanced presence on the continent with our physical office locations in Nairobi, Johannesburg, and Lagos. We are looking at expanding our presence in the future, and the decision for Nairobi is in that view, especially as we already have an AI hub in West Africa”, she adds.
Google has, however, joined the growing list of tech giants who set up innovations hub in Nairobi. Two weeks ago, Visa announced that it had set up its first innovation center to co-create payment and commerce solutions with partners. Also, Microsoft launched a research and development center in Nairobi.
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Image Source – Google
