Microsoft to open first development centre in Africa
As a result of the rapid growth in tech echo systems in Africa and the need for software engineering talents, Microsoft is investing over US$100 million to open its first development centres on the continent. The centres will employ 100 African developers full-time this year, and will expand to 500 developers by 2023.
GitHub’s latest annual report showed that African developers created 40% more open source repositories this year than last – a higher percentage growth than any other continent. Larger developer communities, like those in Morocco, Kenya, and Nigeria, saw up to 70% more contributors this year than last year. These young developers who cannot all be accommodated locally, work remotely for foreign companies and platforms, or move to Europe.
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