The most important developments in sub-Saharan Africa. Six days a week.
Microsoft is restructuring its Africa Development Centre in Nairobi, where staff were told that fewer than ten of about 400 engineering jobs may remain, Kenyan technology media reported on 13 October. Microsoft confirmed that proposed changes affect its Kenyan engineering department but gave no numbers or date, and said it would keep operating in Kenya. The centre opened in 2019 as one of two African engineering hubs; Microsoft earlier closed the other, in Lagos. The cuts remove several hundred skilled technology jobs and weaken Nairobi's case as a regional technology hub, although laid-off engineers may strengthen local start-ups.
Rwanda signed a 10-year agreement with Formula One to host a Grand Prix from the early 2030s, President Paul Kagame announced in Kigali on 13 October. The six-kilometre circuit will be built near the new Bugesera International Airport, about 40 kilometres south of Kigali, to the top standard of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). It would be the first Formula One race in Africa since 1993 and extends Rwanda's strategy of using sport sponsorship and conferences to attract visitors. Neither side disclosed the fee or construction cost, which will decide whether tourism and investment gains outweigh the burden on public finances.
