Technology giant, Microsoft, has shut down its Nigerian branch of the African Development Centre after two years of operation, focusing on its facility and staff in Kenya to achieve the corporation’s goals for the African continent.
Amid rising inflation that has turned the country’s economy hostile to both domestic and foreign firms, Microsoft closed its seven-floor Nigerian ADC facility in Ikoyi, Lagos State, leaving its employees jobless.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the shutdown to Peoples Gazette on Tuesday but did not specify the number of affected workers.
In March 2022, Microsoft opened ADC in Lagos, Nigeria and Nairobi, Kenya, and expressed optimism about “training, equipping and hiring engineering talents” from Nigeria to “contribute to the development of Microsoft products,” according to Gafar Lawal, managing director of ADC West Africa.
The closure of the Nigerian ADC has stirred worries that the nation’s given that Microsoft — a global tech conglomerate— had in 2019 pledged to invest $100 million over five years to boost its two West African hubs.
The termination of operations in Nigeria while still running business in Kenya left many citizens concerned, especially because other multinational companies like UK drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and Procter & Gamble Co. have also exited Nigeria.
