Microsoft appoints Gafar Lawal as MD of African Development Centre in Nigeria

Microsoft has appointed Gafar Lawal as the managing director of its Africa Development Centre in Nigeria, launched in May 2019.

With more than 20 years of experience in various business functions, Lawal returns to Microsoft from Morgan Stanley where he served as Managing Director and Global Chief Technology Architect for the Wealth Management Division. Prior to his time at Morgan Stanley, Lawal spent over six years working at Microsoft’s US headquarters in Redmond, WA as Partner Architect in the Windows server group and Windows phone services division. He also spent ten years as First Vice President and Chief Technology Architect at Merrill Lynch.

“The ADC is unlike any other existing investment on the continent – enabling us to better listen to our customers, develop locally and scale for global impact – in the grand scheme of things, presenting a strategic opportunity for us to comprehend a continent that is rapidly adopting cloud technology and massive innovation at the intelligent edge,” says Mike Fortin, corporate vice president at Microsoft. “We’ve been actively sourcing talent to join our team of engineers and are delighted to have Gafar bring his leadership skills to the team.”

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ADC engineers are already working with local partners and customers on key issues for Nigeria, Africa, and the rest of the world. Through the creation of an employment pipeline, local graduates and experienced technologists from industry can join Microsoft at the ADC in Lagos to begin or continue exciting careers in areas that include AI, mixed reality, and application development – making meaningful contributions on a local and global scale.

“I am looking forward to embarking on this incredible new journey with the Microsoft team and effectively playing my part in bringing digital transformation to the continent at large. I hope that as we continue to not only identify and nurture talent but also bring about unprecedented change, that we will continue to aid every individual involved to achieve more,” concludes Lawal.