Microsoft Corp MSFT has decided to close its engineering center in Nigeria, citing economic challenges as the primary reason.
What Happened: Microsoft has announced the closure of its engineering center in Lagos, Nigeria, which was inaugurated in 2022, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The center was established to provide advanced engineering solutions for the tech giant. This decision comes amidst the economic turmoil faced by the country, including a currency crisis, dollar shortages, and high inflation.
Microsoft’s Nigeria Development Center was one of two such facilities in Africa, the other being in Kenya. The closure will not affect the Nairobi center, the company confirmed.
A Microsoft spokesperson stated, “Organizational and workforce adjustments are a necessary and regular part of managing our business. We will continue to prioritize and invest in strategic growth areas for our future and in support of our customers and partners.”
Over 200 jobs will be impacted by the shutdown, according to Nigeria's The Guardian
Why It Matters: Microsoft’s decision to close its Nigeria engineering center comes at a time when the company is making significant investments in other regions. Just last week, Microsoft introduced an isolated AI model for U.S. intelligence agencies to analyze classified data, marking a major breakthrough in AI technology.
Moreover, Microsoft has been actively investing in AI and cloud services in Asia, with a $1.7 billion commitment in Indonesia and a $2.2 billion investment in Malaysia.
The company is reportedly developing a new in-house AI language model to compete with tech giants like Google and OpenAI.
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