Sanwolu assures of tech-driven Lagos

• As Microsoft Donates $100m Investment
Lagos State Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has stressed the importance of technology to governance, saying his government is determined to use technology as a major driver of activities.
  
Speaking Friday night at the launch of the Microsoft’s $100m Africa Development Centre (ADC) in Lagos, Sanwoolu said he was passionate about how technology would help his team build a 21st Century economy and ensure an enabling environment for local and international partnerships.
 
Sanwo-Olu recalled how his campaign team jumped on the opportunity to provide free Wi Fi to identified locations in Lagos, including shopping malls and higher institutions, and how the free service has been well-utilised by the beneficiary communities.
The governor-elect thanked the Microsoft group for considering siting of the centre in the state, which is technology hub in sub-Saharan Africa.
 
Sanwo-Olu promised the tech giant that his administration would partner others to bring about effective realisation of his technology-driven agenda.
 
Meanwhile, Microsoft announced that it would invest $100m to open its first Africa Development Centre (ADC) with sites in Nigeria and Kenya over the next five years.The ADC would serve as a premier centre of engineering for Microsoft, where world-class African talents can create solutions for local and global impact.
   
Microsoft explained that the centre, which is its seventh globally, is recruiting world-class African engineering talents to develop innovative solutions that span the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge.
  
The Software giant said the ADC would empower partners and customers, as they use Microsoft solutions in fields important to the continent like FinTech, AgriTech and OffGrid energy.  
  
Executive sponsor of the ADC and Vice President at Microsoft, Phil Spencer, said the ADC would be unlike any other existing investment on the continent.Country Manager for Microsoft Nigeria Akin Banuso, said the global firm opened its first hyper-scale datacentres in Africa, and this next milestone is particularly significant for Nigeria.
   
Technical fellow at Microsoft and the lead in establishing the first engineering team in Lagos, Alex Kipman, said the firm has started work in Nigeria ‘‘and I am very much looking forward to the kind of innovation that will come from the ADC.  I am looking to learn, understand, and work hard so that we can grow together organically,” he stated.