Microsoft Nigeria realigning roles, not shutting down

The Presidency says tech giant, Microsoft, is not shutting down its office in Nigeria but only re-aligning roles within the business.

Temitope Ajayi, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, who made the clarification in a post on X, however, confirmed that in the course of the new reorganisation, “few roles will certainly be impacted”.

PoliticsNow reports that the reaction followed media reports that Microsoft is shutting down its Africa Development Centre (ADC) in Lagos.

The reports had said that the shutting down of operations at the centre would impact over 200 jobs.

Spokesperson for Microsoft, who confirmed the development, said while the facility remains operational, its decision was to lay off those in the engineering team at the Centre.

“The engineering team at the African Development Center in Lagos has been let go. The Microsoft office in Nigeria remains operational,” the Spokesperson told Techpoint Africa.

Ajayi’s post on his X handle on Thursday, reads: “The story that Microsoft is shutting down its Nigeria office is not true. Africa Development Centre is just a department within Microsoft business in Nigeria. Contrary to incorrect media reports, the Africa Development Centre is also not shutting down.

“Microsoft, like any other organisation, is only re-aligning roles within the business, and few roles will certainly be impacted. Affected staff, who are less than 30, will be asked to apply for new roles within Microsoft – a standard practice within the organisation.

“Those who can’t find new roles in other departments or those who want to seek new opportunities outside the system will be asked to go. The situation at Microsoft is not anywhere near the impression of the ‘earthquake’ that Peter Obi sensationally described.”