Google Opens Product Development Hub In Kenya, Two Years After It Launched An AI Centre In Ghana

Google has opened its first product development center in Africa. Located in Nairobi, the center is designed to build “transformative” products and services, company officials have said.

It comes after the tech giant revealed plans to invest $1 billion over the next five years in October last year. The center is Google’s second major research and development investment in Africa after the tech giant set up an AI and research center in Ghana in 2019.

The firm will reportedly hire more than 100 tech talent including software engineers, researchers, and designers over the next two years to help solve difficult and technical challenges. Such issues include improving the smartphone experience for people in Africa, or building more reliable internet infrastructure, said Google VP for products, Suzanne Frey.

“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 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,” Google in Africa managing director, Nitin Gajria, told media.