Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram is set to reduce its office space in Lagos after global layoffs affected the workforce of its Nigerian office.
As the social media giant reevaluates its tenancy agreement for office space in the 15-story Kings Tower building in Ikoyi, where the asking rent is $800 per sqm and hosts offices of Flutterwave and Microsoft, one would wonder if these are signs of Meta leaving Nigeria.
However, the renegotiation of its tenancy agreement to reduce its office space is directly linked to the company’s global layoffs which happened in 2023 and affected at least 35 employees per a report by TechCabal.
“It is a remarkable about-face for a company that has consistently invested in Nigeria and has spoken about prioritising the West African nation. In March 2024, Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairsvisited Nigeria and announced the company would begin offering monetisation to creators in Q3 2024.
During his visit, he spoke about the recognition Nigerian creators have garnered globally and their use of Meta’s platforms to build communities. Per Statista data, there are an estimated 43 million Facebook users in Nigeria,” Frank Eleanya wrote for TechCabal.
Despite office space reduction plans, Meta does not want anyone to think it is reducing its presence or commitment in Nigeria.
“We regularly review our office spaces to ensure they suit the needs of the business, and the office in Nigeria is no different. As we shrink our real estate footprint, we’re transitioning to desk sharing for people who already spend most of their time outside the office,” Meta said in a statement.
So far, Meta is the second big tech company that is visibly reducing its operation scale in the country after Microsoft, in May 2024, closed its African Development Centre, and announced layoffs for its entire engineering team in the country.
