[full]The President of Microsoft International, Jean-Philippe Courtois has disclosed that the Devices and Services company, Microsoft has invested $75 million in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and other African countries in the areas of access, innovation, skills development, youth empowerment; software development; digital curriculum, skills among others.
Courtois who stated this last week during a press briefing shortly after several meetings with the company’s local partners said that , “I think so far in a new drive, we have invested about $75 million in the African Markets and Nigeria has had a fair share of that deal.
Affirming Microsoft’s status as the no .1 go-to in the driving down of data costs especially for SMEs that often don’t have the capital for IT infrastructure investment, he said that Nigeria was one of company’s most important markets in Africa hence its upgrade of Microsoft Nigeria office to a single country subsidiary come its new Financial Year 2015 which will commence on July 1, 2014.
According to him, with Microsoft’s rapid transition to devices, the corporation was set to double its efforts in skills investments, innovation support and access provision for people across the globe in general and Nigeria in particular, to create sustained economic opportunities.
A testament being the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology to support the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Week.[/full]