Google announced the launch of a product development center in Nairobi, its first in the continent today. This is set to build “transformative” products and services for the African market and the world. Following the revelation to invest $1 billion over the next 5 years.
This center is Google’s second major research and development investment in Africa.
According to google, this Center will provide employment opportunity to Africans and also solve difficult /technical challenges. This includes improving the smartphone experience for people in Africa, building a more reliable internet infrastructure.
Google said it plans to continue building partnerships, products and services to get more people connected to the internet, support small and medium-sized businesses and non-profit organizations.
“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,” said Google in Africa managing director, Nitin Gajria.
