Microsoft says it has spent $200million since the introduction of its African Development Centre in 2019.
The ADC West Africa Managing Director, Gafar Lawal, disclosed this during the launch of the ADC’s office on Monday.
He said the ADC had since grown from 10 employees in 2019 to about 200 in 2022.
Lawal said, “The facility will continue our efforts towards training, equipping and hiring engineering talent in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole to contribute to the development of Microsoft products that are in use by over one billion devices and empowering millions of users and organizations across the world to do more.”
The ADC office, which is now based at Kings Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos, will house the centre’s product engineering, ecosystem development, and innovation teams.
The company added that its new facility would also house the Microsoft Garage, a new entity launched as part of ongoing efforts to scale innovation in the tech ecosystem.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, said the launch of the ADC, which is the first in Africa, would strengthen the nation’s position as a leading regional digital innovation hub.
The Governor, Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, added, “I join several Nigerians and Lagosians today in applauding Microsoft’s commitment to developing the tech in our state and country through this state-of-the-art 7-floor facility, which will improve employment and also contribute significantly to the training and rise of many tech giants in Nigeria.”
According to the Corporate Vice President of the Identity and Network Access Engineering Team at Microsoft, and executive sponsor of the ADC, Joy Chik, the company is set to hire more engineering talent in the nation.
