Google’s not one of those corporations in which every person in a given room is likely to be the vice president of something or other. So since the company is hiring a handful of execs in African offices, this appears to be a sign of an impending expansion throughout the continent.
First there are the five positions in Nairobi, Google’s headquarters in Africa; these openings alone might hint that something was happening. Things go far beyond them, though, with Kui Kinyanjui reporting, “Google is also searching for office leads in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria and Senegal.”
Furthermore, in line with the not-all-worthless-titles mentality, Kinyanjui writes, “Advertisements posted on
Google’s website indicate that the company is looking for people with local expertise in marketing, logistics as well as technical support.”
We don’t see many Google-, Yahoo-, or Microsoft-related developments in Africa, and in part, that makes sense – Internet availability throughout most of the continent is quite low. But on the other hand, that means there’s a huge opportunity for a company to position itself to lead a market from the start. For example: although we won’t get into the corporation’s current standing, remember how “AOL” used to be synonymous with “Web” for much of America?
Google may be getting an important head start on competitors, then. And as we would if the company were expanding in Michigan, Florida, or any other place, we’ll suggest that readers living near to these openings in Africa get their resumes ready.
