Google opens first in Africa tech hub in Nairobi

This is part of the company’s plan to expand its base in the continent through a Ksh.115.5 billion investment over the next five years.

According to Google vice president for products Suzanne Frey, the new product development centre will help to create “transformative” products and services for people in Africa and around the world and will offer job opportunities "to visionary engineers, product managers, UX designers and researchers to lay the foundation for significant growth in the coming years”.

“Google’s mission in Africa is to make the Internet helpful to Africans and partner with African governments, policymakers, educators, entrepreneurs and businesses to shape the next wave of innovation in Africa," Frey said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Today I am excited to welcome all Africans passionate about improving the digital experience of African users by building better products to apply for the open roles at our first product development centre in Africa.”

The American company had in October last year revealed plans to invest $1 billion (Ksh.116 billion) over the next five years as part of its Africa digital transformation programme.

This will be Google’s second major research and development investment in Africa, after the company set up an AI and research center in Ghana in 2019.

At the same time, the tech giant has announced that it will be hiring 100 employees for the new center, including engineering managers, product managers, software engineers, and developer relations engineers.

Google is now the third company to set up a hub in Nairobi within the past two months in what is positioning the city as a regional technology hub and a destination for multinational tech giants.

Just two weeks ago, global digital payments giant Visa opened an innovation studio in Kenya, the first in Africa, to expand its reach in the region.

The facility, Visa said, ​​will bring together developers, internal and external clients, and other partners to co-create payment and commerce solutions.

Visa’s Nairobi studio is the first in Africa and sixth globally, after posts in Dubai, London, Miami, San Francisco and Singapore.

Two weeks before that, American tech powerhouse Microsoft launched a $27 million (Ksh.3 billion) research and development center in Nairobi.

Opened on March 25, the Microsoft Africa Development Centre is one of the largest software engineering facilities in Africa and sets the standard for a new generation of technology hubs across the continent.

​​Microsoft said it had also partnered with local universities and start-ups to provide training and skills to create job opportunities for over 200,000 young Kenyans.