Microsoft is reportedly pulling back from the last of its two African engineering centres.
Employees at the Africa Development Centre in Nairobi learned on Monday, October 12, that the centre is closing. Two employees told TechCabal that staff at the centre, located in Dunhill Towers in Westlands, were called to a meeting and asked to meet their managers by Friday, October 16, to discuss exit options, including severance.
The move ends a seven-year experiment in building Microsoft’s global products from Africa.
What Microsoft Has Said
Microsoft has not confirmed a shutdown. A company spokesperson said “proposed changes” tied to its global restructuring had affected the engineering department in Kenya, and that Microsoft would keep operating in the country and serving regional customers.
The statement did not confirm the closure, or say how many employees would remain or when the changes would take effect.
Techweez noted that the statement never uses the word closure, and never denies one. The closure account comes from staff, reported by CIO Africa, Tech-ish, Techweez and TechCabal.
That gap matters. Without official numbers, it is unclear how many people are losing their jobs.
What the Centre Did
Microsoft announced the Africa Development Centre in May 2019. It pledged more than $100 million, with Nairobi and Lagos as its first hubs.
The Nairobi site was not a sales or support office. It built core products used worldwide. The centre’s own website lists teams working on Identity, Microsoft 365, Windows and devices, security, and developer tools. Identity covers the systems behind signing in to Microsoft accounts.
The centre formally opened in March 2022, with more than 450 engineers and product leaders on staff at the time.
It met its original hiring target, which makes the closure hard to explain as a failure to deliver.
The Lagos Precedent
Nairobi’s fate mirrors that of its sister centre.
Microsoft closed the Lagos centre in 2024, with layoffs in May and July hitting most of its Nigerian engineering team. Engineers who stayed were asked to relocate to Kenya.
At the time, the decision was widely read as a verdict on Nigeria’s economy rather than on Africa. Kenyan staff were spared, leading many to blame Nigerian government policy.
Microsoft said then that the Lagos closure would not affect its Kenyan operations. That assurance has now expired.
Nairobi was also not untouched before. In March 2023, the centre laid off at least 20 employees. Nairobi staff say they had seen signs of trouble for some time.
The Global Picture
Microsoft is cutting costs while spending heavily on artificial intelligence. The company has said it plans to spend $80 billion in capital this financial year, mostly on AI infrastructure such as data centres.
Remote engineering centres are easy targets in that environment. But no public evidence links the Nairobi closure directly to the global cuts.
A Second Blow to Kenya This Year
The news lands months after another setback.
In 2024, Microsoft and the Abu Dhabi AI firm G42 announced a $1 billion package for Kenya, including a geothermal-powered data centre. That data centre has not been built. Kenyan Wall Street notes the centre is being wound down five months after the commitment stalled, though there is no public evidence linking the two.
The closure removes Kenya’s largest in-country engineering team building a global software product, and weakens the country’s pitch as Africa’s tech hub in the same year as the data centre setback.
Kenya’s government has positioned the country as the continent’s preferred destination for Big Tech. Losing both the flagship data centre and the flagship engineering team in one year undercuts that message.
What Happens to the Engineers
The near-term cost falls on staff. The closure would send hundreds of engineers back into a job market Microsoft helped reshape when it opened the centre.
There is a possible upside. A few hundred experienced engineers could become available to local startups and tech firms seeking senior talent.
But Kenya’s startup sector has faced tighter funding since 2023. Few local firms can match Microsoft salaries. Some engineers will likely look abroad or take remote roles with foreign companies.
What Remains Unanswered
Microsoft has left several key questions open:
- How many employees are affected, and how many will stay.
- When exits take effect, and on what severance terms.
- Whether engineers will be offered relocation, as Lagos staff were.
- The fate of Microsoft Research Africa and the Microsoft Garage, and the status of the Olkaria data centre.
Kenyan law requires employers to notify the Labour Commissioner before redundancies. Those filings may provide the first official headcount.
Until then, Microsoft’s position is that it remains committed to Kenya. Its engineers in Nairobi have been told otherwise.
