The fourth edition of MEST Africa Summit will be in collaboration with Microsoft. This year Microsoft partners with MEST in the event as platinum sponsors. The summit will explore the latest innovations in the African tech ecosystem. Mest Africa Summit 2019 will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from June 10th to the 12th.
The 3 day Pan-African Tech Summit will have keynotes, fireside chats, panel discussions and workshops. It will look to discuss key topics impacting entrepreneurs and investors in Africa’s technology space. Conversations will range from the impact of AI and machine learning on Africa’s workforce, the role of tech in cultivating a more energy-efficient Africa, ways data is being used to enable financial inclusion on the continent, how key sectors and innovations are contributing to the ecosystem, etc.
“At Microsoft we believe in empowering every organization and person to do more. The work that MEST does with innovators in Africa aligns perfectly with our mission to transform people’s lives through technology engagement.” – Chris Lwanga, Senior Director Software Partnerships, Microsoft
“As we gear up for this year’s Summit, we’re excited to welcome some of Africa’s most engaging entrepreneurs, partners, corporate leaders and ecosystem facilitators. We’re thrilled to partner with Microsoft, whose entrepreneur toolkit is helping developers across the continent more easily build impactful solutions. We look forward to diving deep into discussions around the innovations and solutions that are rapidly driving change on the continent.” – Aaron Fu, Managing Director, MEST
2019 MEST AFRICA CHALLENGE
MEST Africa Summit 2019 will also host the Mest Africa Challenge finals. Competing regional finalist will pitch to win the grand price of $50K in equity investment and the chance to join the MEST community. Finalist teams are from Ghana(OZE), Nigeria(Ampz_TV), South Africa(Snode Technologies), Kenya(Wayawaya Ltd) and Cote d’Ivoire(Seekewa).
Microsoft CVP Michael Fortin & Phil Spencer in Nairobi at the Launch event.
Africa Development Centre Launch
Today at a media event in Nairobi, Microsoft executives introduced a special development in Kenya. But more importantly for the African continent as a whole. Microsoft launched its first Development Centre in Africa; the Africa Development Centre.
It will have two initial team sites located in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria. The Africa Development Centre(ADC) sites become the seventh and eighth Microsoft development centres sites globally. Microsoft’s other development centres sites are located in China, India, Israel, Vancouver, Boston and Silicon Valley in San Francisco.
Our new Microsoft Africa Development Center will be at the forefront of building innovative solutions that benefit Africa − and the entire world. – Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO
ADC launch event
Microsoft ADC
Microsoft says the;
“ADC will serve as a premier centre of engineering for Microsoft. Where world class African talent can create solutions for local and global impact“.
Microsoft’s Executive Vice President Gaming, Phil Spencer will be the executive sponsor of the Africa Development Center. Speaking at the launch event he said “We are listening more than we are speaking. We want your input and feedback on what we need to do in order to help the market here succeed. We are committed for the long term, to be in partnership with you in helping us grow. Incredible market with amazing talent the universities are putting out“.
He shares this about the project;
“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.” – Phil Spencer
ADC Investment
The ADC will have two teams, the Microsoft Cognition team and the Microsoft Windows Team. With the Congnition team based in Lagos, Nigeria and the Windows team in Nairobi, kenya.
Microsoft is marking a new milestone with this investment in Africa. A $100 million combined expected investment of infrastructure and employment of local qualified engineers. Microsoft will recruit world class African Software Engineers to the sites. Learn how to be part of the Africa Development Center. The development centre website is still under construction and yet to publish new roles.
On what the teams will be doing, Microsoft shares these details.
“Our Microsoft Cognition team and Windows’ team will be kickstarting our ADC efforts, focusing on AI-enabled cloud services, mixed reality experiences and rich applications that power the intelligent edge without disruption.”
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UPDATE: Microsoft launches Africa Development sites in Lagos and Nairobi.
Microsoft corporation marks yet another milestone of investments and operations in Africa. In an event later today the global technology company will announce its first Development Centre in Africa. Its seventh globally. The Africa Development Centre will have two initial sites set to be located in Nigeria and Kenya. The global technology giant says it will be a long term investment in the region.
Yesterday, top Microsoft executives paid a courtesy call on the President of Kenya. Where they shared details of the project with the president. The executives shared that Microsoft plans to invest a combined expected investment of US $100 million over the first five years of operation.
Microsoft says through the Africa Development Centre it intends to invest in more cutting-edge solutions suitable for the region and the rest of the world.
Stay with us as we bring you more details about the Africa Development Centre launch event in Nairobi. What are you thoughts on this, share them with us.
Update: Microsoft announces Africa Development Center sites in Kenya and Nigeria
In a teaser post on Microsoft’s social pages, the company shared “Something great is coming to Nairobi, Kenya! and Something great is coming to Lagos, Nigeria!, Watch this space to learn more“. The big announcements are scheduled to be made on May 14th in Nairobi Kenya and the 17th in Lagos Nigeria.
This 3rd one is in partneship with Africa Digital Media Institue(ADMI), a digital media and technology training institute. The partnership will see ADMI establish a dynamic apprenticeship platform for mobile application and game development students.
Microsoft 4Afrika Regional Director Amrote Abdella, said this at the launch of the AppFactory. “Students will acquire skills in programming, cloud computing, and data analytics to address the mismatch of skills in the games and mobile application market.”
Africa Digital Media Institute founding director Wilfred Kiumi shared that “Globally, game development had estimated revenues of $137.9 billion in 2018 and in Kenya, it is predicted that the revenues will be over $31 million by 2022.” He talked about the excitement to launch a new era for skills development and youth empowerment.
The AppFactory academy will be hosted at the ADMI Africa campus in Nairobi. It will also be the first AppFactory to focus on equipping graduates with skills for the gaming sector.
