Tag: Microsoft

Microsoft partners Tech4Dev to train girls and women in deep tech skills

Frank

NIGERIA – Microsoft has partnered with Tech4Dev, a non-profit social enterprise, on the Women Techsters Initiative to train girls and women in Nigeria and across Africa in coding and deep technology skills. This partnership aims to bridge the digital and technology divide and ensure equal access to opportunities across the continent. The Women Techsters initiative, which is aimed at girls and women between 16 and 40, across 54 countries in Africa, was launched in a virtual roundtable today, hosted by Microsoft Philanthropies and Tech4Dev. The training provided through the initiative…

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Liquid Telecom buys Microsoft Dynamics specialist Quattro Business Solutions MEA operations

Frank

MEA – Pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom Group, has acquired the Middle East & Africa operations of Quattro Business Solutions (QBS), a company that specialises in Microsoft Dynamics enterprise software which it says will allow the company to innovate and enhance its digital services offerings. “The strategic acquisition of this international partner allows Liquid Telecom to increase the breadth of digital service offerings to local partners,” the company said in a statement on. QBS is an official indirect cloud solution provider for Microsoft Dynamics and supports about 800 partners in 25 countries. “This purchase…

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MainOne becomes the first Microsoft Azure Peering Services partner for West Africa

Frank

NIGERIA – MainOne, a communications services company for business, has announced that it has become the first Microsoft Azure Peering Services partner for West Africa, providing enterprises using Microsoft Cloud services with a secured, reliable and high performance experience relative to what is currently available in the market. MainOne now offers enterprises improved performance in accessing Microsoft Cloud applications such as Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Teams, and other SaaS products. Speaking on the achievement, the Chief Technology Officer of MainOne, Anil Verma, said the growing migration towards cloud services by…

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Microsoft partners with AGRA to digitize agriculture in Sub Saharan countries

Frank

KENYA – US software giant Microsoft has entered a Memorandum of Understanding with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to co-create technology solutions in agriculture. The collaboration between Microsoft through its 4Afrika initiative will support AGRA’s digital transformation as it works to improve food security for 30 million farming households across 11 countries by 2021. The MoU aims to encourage the use of big data and AI in the digital transformation of AGRA, working with the Kenyan government and expanding to Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi…

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Microsoft promotes sustainable agriculture in South Africa with US$2.3m investment

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – Microsoft South Africa is set to inject R40 million (US$2.3m) in South Africa’s agriculture sector, to bolster the use of technology to tackle the challenges facing the sector. According to a press-release by the tech-giant, the investment is aimed at driving sustainability for smallholder farmers, who form an important part of the agricultural workforce in the country. Over two million of these farmers help reduce poverty for local communities and establish food systems for South Africa and the wider southern African region. However, they face challenges that prevent…

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Kenya partners with Microsoft to boost agriculture through technology

Frank

KENYA – The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives (MALFC) of Kenya has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate with Microsoft to accelerate innovation in the country’s agricultural sector. The MoU will enable MALFC to tap into Microsoft technology to accelerate the aspirations of achieving 100% food and nutrition security in the country as part of the Government’s Big Four programme. Agriculture Principal Secretary Prof. Hamadi Boga says under the deal, the government will strive at increasing the daily average income for farmers by a third and…

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Microsoft launches initiative to support social enterprise startups

Frank

KENYA – Technology giant Microsoft, through its Microsoft for Start-ups initiative, has announced access to free cloud technologies for startups keen on solving social and environmental challenges in Kenya. This will be done under the Global Social Entrepreneurship programme that the tech giant unveiled during 2020’s Sankalp Forum held in Nairobi. As a platform for innovation, entrepreneurship and impact investing, the Sankalp Forum was the ideal place for Microsoft, a strategic partner of the forum, to make this important announcement. The free access includes up to KSh12.1 million (US$120,000) in…

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AfDB partners with Microsoft to launch digital tool to help African youth learn to code

Frank

AFRICA – The African Development Bank and technology firm Microsoft have launched the ‘Coding for Employment’ digital training platform, an online tool to provide digital skills to African youth, wherever they are across the continent. The platform, aims to promote a continuous learning culture among young people and build their capacity to shape the continent’s future, AFDB said in a statement. “The skills training platform launched today is a testament to the impact that such partnerships can achieve, and the Bank looks forward to strengthening similar partnerships,” said Hendrina Doroba,…

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Microsoft Appoints Lawal As Head Of African Development Center

Frank

NIGERIA – Microsoft has appointed Gafar Lawal as the Managing Director of its Africa Development Centre in Nigeria. The African Development Centre was inaugurated by Microsoft in May this year, recruiting world-class Nigerian talent to create innovative solutions for global impact. The premier centre of engineering, according to Mike Fortin, corporate vice president at Microsoft, is unlike any other existing investment on the continent. Mike Fortin said that the ADC enabled Microsoft “to better listen to our customers, develop locally and scale for global impact – in the grand scheme…

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South Africa’s Nedbank partners with Microsoft on IT infrastructure

Frank

SOUTH AFRICA – African financial service provider Nedbank has partnered with Microsoft to migrate components of its IT infrastructure to the cloud. The investment through the partnership will make Nedbank the first financial institution in the country to run operations of this scale in the cloud as it aimed to become a “digital-first financial services provider”. The partnership forms part of Nedbank’s 2020 digital transformation vision and three-lane digital strategy, which focuses on running the business (digitise), transforming the business (delight) and disrupting the business (disrupt) as well as better…

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