M:lab East Africa has awarded 100 developers with certificates in Windows Training after honing their skills on the platform in a move at equipping young and budding Kenyans with skills to create solutions relevant for the competitive technology market.
According to the tech incubator, the Windows training at m:lab ran four different sessions to cater for the different audiences who range from students to working professionals. It provided participants with knowledge on the key features and tools of the Windows platform, covering areas like Microsoft Azure– a cloud computing solution with a variety of application and website development tools and data storage solutions for businesses.
The Windows Training graduates will get access to Bizspark, a programme for start-ups that gives free software and other resources including cloud hosting for three years. Start-Ups will also get an opportunity to apply for the Microsoft Innovation Grant which provides much needed funds.
Microsoft Kenya’s Country Manager, Kunle Awosika said: “Through Microsoft4Afrika, we want to ignite African innovation for the continent and for the world. It is for this reason that we are investing on developers to enable then access to the technology, mentorship, connections, and go-to-market support they need to thrive.”
Kunle also told TechMoran that the Windows platform has gained momentum in app development. He added that the Microsoft is looking into launching Windows 10; a platform that will run on all windows devices from desktops, to tablets to mobile phones meaning that developers will not have to have more than one version of the application because it will suite all platforms.
Microsoft Kenya’s Country Manager could not hide the fact that Kenya, with a lot of support from the government, has made strides in technology. He said that the growth is visible and was evidently seen from the time M-pesa was launched because it was the main catalyst of technology explosion.
In response to TechMoran, Kunle said that the future of technology in Africa is quite promising and new jobs are made every single day. He said that Nigerian developers create really big innovations and people are willing to make big investments on Start-ups, however time is changing very fast and Kenya is catching up with Nigeria and it now looks like the two countries are a mirror of one another.
Microsoft has already establishes partnerships with nine innovation hubs across Africa including CcHUB in Nigeria, DTBi in Tanzania, iHub & M:lab in Kenya and AfriLabs, the pan-African network to enhance knowledge-sharing and collaboration between hubs on the continent.