Microsoft has shut its Africa Development Centre in Nairobi, Kenya, leaving more than 400 engineers without jobs, according to a report by TechCabal.

The closure follows the company’s decision to shut its Lagos engineering operation in May 2024. Together, the two closures mark Microsoft’s exit from engineering operations on the African continent, TechCabal reported.

People familiar with the Nairobi operation said about five employees are expected to remain across customer and partner solutions, recruitment and sales. The identities of those employees were not disclosed.

Questions over Microsoft’s Africa commitment

Microsoft announced the Africa Development Centre in 2019 as part of a $100 million commitment to build engineering capacity in Africa. The company had planned to hire 500 engineers across its Nairobi and Lagos centres.

The Nairobi facility was intended to connect Microsoft with local technical talent and give African engineers opportunities to work on products used internationally. Its closure has therefore prompted questions about the company’s longer-term commitment to developing technical talent in the region.

Microsoft said it “remains committed to Kenya”. The company has not publicly said that poor performance caused the Nairobi closure, and no specific reason for the decision has been supplied.

Employees familiar with the centre said it had not experienced quality or performance problems. Some workers reportedly received strong appraisal ratings before being told that their positions were at risk.

Microsoft has also closed sales offices in Windhoek, Abidjan, Dakar, Accra and Port-Louis. The company may continue serving African customers through sales teams, cloud services and other operations, although the available information does not provide a detailed account of those activities.

Part of wider technology-sector reductions

The Nairobi shutdown comes as major technology companies reduce their workforces while reorganising operations and investing heavily in new tools and services.

Amazon eliminated 14,000 corporate jobs in October 2025 and a further 16,000 in January 2026. Salesforce cut about 4,000 roles and later laid off fewer than 1,000 employees across several functions in February 2026.

Technology tools can now write code, summarise documents, answer customer questions and manage repetitive administrative work. They also have established uses in software development, research and customer support. However, workforce reductions can also result from weaker demand, overlapping teams or efforts to improve profit margins.

The changes have taken place alongside large investments in leading technology companies. OpenAI announced a funding round involving $122 billion in committed capital in March 2026, giving it a post-investment valuation of $852 billion. Anthropic raised $65 billion in May 2026 at a post-money valuation of $965 billion.

TechCabal reported that OpenAI has recorded rapid revenue growth but has not established sustained profitability. Anthropic reported $16.8 billion in third-quarter revenue in October 2026 and adjusted profitability for a second consecutive quarter.

Both companies still face the challenge of converting demand for their products into lasting profits and supporting their valuations. Against that backdrop, Microsoft’s withdrawal from engineering operations in Nairobi and Lagos highlights the tension between ambitious technology investment and the continuing reduction of established workforces.