Microsoft African Development Centre has appointed Catherine Muraga as its Managing Director effective 01 June 2022. She takes over from Jack Ngare, who has led the ADC since its inception in 2019.
An IT professional with over 15 years of experience, Catherine comes on board with a wealth of experience and is well-versed in the IT landscape in Kenya and the region, having worked in various industries such as manufacturing, aviation, and banking.
Before joining Microsoft, she led the Engineering team at Stanbic Bank Kenya and South Sudan and was a member of the bank’s Executive Leadership team. She was previously the Director of IT and Operations at Sidian Bank.
Catherine is an alumnus of Columbia Business School Digital Strategies for Business, Oxford University Fintech Programme and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from Africa Nazarene University.
Since its inception in Kenya in 2019, the ADC has grown to over 450 full-time employees working in software engineering, machine learning, data science, market research, infrastructure, and much more.
Outgoing MD Jack Ngare saw the recent unveiling of the $27 million Microsoft Africa Development Centre, which aims to bolster the Government’s quest to secure high-tech jobs in the digital space for the youth. The ADC is among other development centres across the globe geared towards training world-class engineers who will create global products and services and has already employed more than 450 engineers in Kenya and 500 employees in other areas. The Africa development centre employs about 570 engineers working on identity and network access, mixed reality, Microsoft 365, and connected services and experiences.
