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IT giant Microsoft has launched its 100 million first Africa development centre (ADC) in Lagos Nigeria, to firm up its commitments to fostering innovation across the continent.
ADC is also housing the Microsoft Garage, part of its grand plan to grow through the Microsoft teams, a community of innovators working on product engineering, innovation and ecosystem development, among other themes.
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The is located at King Towers, Ikoyi Lagos and was formally unveiled by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari. The minister was accompanied by the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa and other dignitaries including the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner of Science and Technology, Hakeem Fahm.
Pantami commended Microsoft for the development and assured it of government’s support even as he affirmed that Google’s strong presence in Nigeria through its establishment of a development centre also in Lagos underscored increasing confidence in Nigeria’s economy and growing importance as a tech hub in Africa.
“Our desire is to recruit exceptional engineering talent across the continent that will build innovative solutions for global impact. This also creates opportunities for engineers to do meaningful work from their home countries and be plugged into a global engineering and development organisation,” said Microsoft in an official statement.
The tech giant had two years earlier announced plans for development centres to be set up in Lagos and Nairobi.
“The ADC will be unlike any other existing investment on the continent. 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,” said Phil Spencer, executive sponsor of the ADC and executive vice president at Microsoft two years back.
The Lagos event marked its official commencement of that vision to be sustained with another ADC in Nairobi soon.
