Microsoft's Nairobi engineering centre faces closure amid global restructuring

Microsoft's Africa Development Centre (ADC) was established to give African engineers a role in building technology used around the world. Now, less than five years after its Nairobi offices officially opened, that operation faces a reported closure. Employees were informed of the plans on Monday, October 12, according to CIO Africa, which cited a source who works at the centre. Microsoft has confirmed that its global restructuring has affected the engineering department in Kenya, but has not explicitly confirmed that the entire Nairobi centre will close. The company says it will continue operating in Kenya and supporting customers across the region. What remains unclear is whether that continued presence will include the engineering teams responsible for developing its products.

Microsoft announced the Africa Development Centre in 2019, committing $100 million over five years to build engineering capacity in Africa. Nairobi and Lagos were selected as the company's engineering hubs. The Nairobi centre officially opened in March 2022. During that year, it had more than 450 full-time engineers and product leaders, according to reporting at the time. The team worked across areas including software development, cloud technologies and security, connecting Kenyan-based professionals to Microsoft's wider engineering organisation. The centre represented a particular kind of technology investment: rather than focusing only on selling products or supporting customers locally, Microsoft was establishing engineering capacity in Kenya itself. Its reported closure would mark a change in that presence. The current number of employees affected has not been disclosed, so the scale of the potential job losses remains unknown. Nairobi would not be the first of Microsoft's African hubs to close. The company shut its Africa Development Centre in Lagos in 2024. That earlier closure forms part of the background to the latest development, although there is no public evidence establishing that the two decisions share the same cause.

On the same day employees were informed about the reported closure, ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo met a Microsoft delegation led by Jeff Bullwinkel, Microsoft's vice-president and deputy general counsel for Corporate, External and Legal Affairs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Angela Ng'ang'a, Microsoft's East Africa lead, was also present. Following the meeting, Kabogo highlighted the need to retain local technology talent, protect jobs at the Nairobi engineering centre and maintain investor confidence in Kenya. The discussions also covered a proposed joint action plan involving artificial intelligence in government, digitisation of public services, cybersecurity, digital infrastructure and digital skills. The government said Microsoft had reaffirmed its long-term commitment to Kenya.

Microsoft says it will continue operating in Kenya, but the future of its engineering operation in Nairobi remains unclear. The company has yet to confirm the centre's closure, disclose how many employees could be affected or explain whether its engineering teams will be retained elsewhere. Until those questions are answered, the reported closure leaves the future of a major engineering operation in Kenya uncertain.