Since the launch of its African Development Centre in 2019, Microsoft claims to have spent $200 million.
Gafar Lawal, the ADC’s West Africa Managing Director, said this during the opening of the ADC’s office on Monday.
According to him, the ADC has grown from ten personnel in 2019 to around 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”.
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Product engineering, ecosystem development, and innovation teams would be housed at the ADC office, which is now located at Kings Towers in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Microsoft Garage, a new entity formed as part of ongoing efforts to scale innovation in the tech ecosystem, will be housed in the new location, according to the company.
Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Isa Pantami, who spoke at the ceremony, said the ADC’s launch, which is the first in Africa, would boost the country’s status as a regional digital innovation powerhouse.
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“I join several Nigerians and Lagosians today in applauding Microsoft’s commitment to developing technology 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“, said Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Microsoft is poised to hire more engineering talent in the country, according to Joy Chik, Corporate Vice President of the Identity and Network Access Engineering Team at Microsoft and executive sponsor of the ADC.
