Microsoft to shut Africa Development Centre in Nigeria

Microsoft (MSFT.O) is closing down its Africa Development Centre in the continent’s most populous nation Nigeria, which will lead to job losses, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

The centre, based in the commercial capital Lagos was opened in 2022 as part of Microsoft’s push to deliver high-end engineering and innovation solutions for the company.

The company said it would, however, continue to operate in Nigeria, continuing to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas.

“Microsoft has decided to close the Africa Development Centre in Nigeria, and as a result some of our employees based in Nigeria will be impacted,” the Microsoft spokesperson said.

“Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business.”

It was not immediately clear how many people would be impacted.

In December 2022, Microsoft President Brad Smith said Africa represented a burgeoning talent pool in contrast to declining population growth elsewhere. Microsoft at that time had more than 200 engineers in Lagos and more than 500 in Nairobi, Kenya.

-Reuters

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ABOUT: Nana Kwesi Coomson

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An Entrepreneur, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Communications Executive and Philanthropist. Editor-in-Chief of www.233times.com. A Senior Journalist with Ghanaian Chronicle Newspaper. An alumnus of Adisadel College where he read General Arts. His first degree is in Bachelor of Arts - Political Science (major) and History (minor) from the University of Ghana. He holds MSc in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Energy with Public Relations (PR) from the Robert Gordon University in the United Kingdom. He is a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow who studied at Clark Atlanta University in USA on the Business and Entrepreneurship track.

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