Investing in Inclusion Across Africa: Microsoft Africa Development Center Amplifies Inclusivity with The Announcement of Its Disability Inclusion Event

LAGOS, Nigeria, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Africa Development Center (Microsoft ADC), the engineering center for Microsoft is set to host a Disability Inclusion event across Africa focused on engineering and non-engineering talents living with disabilities on the 3rd of December, 2021. The event is diversity-centered and will encourage the inclusiveness of people living with disabilities in key career paths, while also raising awareness about the potential of talents living with disabilities. The event will showcase appropriate facilities, programs, and tools well suited for people with disabilities to achieve functional change.

The event will cover the Microsoft Accessibility - an essential tool used in delivering on Microsoft's mission which is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and also unveil the next phase of the accessibility journey, our companywide commitment to creating and opening doors to bigger opportunities for people with disabilities and bring together every corner of Microsoft's business while focusing on these three priorities: Spurring the development of more accessible technology across the industry and the economy, using the technology to create opportunities for more people living with disabilities to be included in the workforce; and building a workplace that is more inclusive for people living with disabilities.

Presenting the keynote at the Microsoft Disability Inclusion Event, Jack Ngare, Managing Director, Microsoft ADC- Kenya, noted, ''More than one billion people around the world live with a disability, and employment rates are relatively lower and poverty rates are higher for people with disabilities than for those without disabilities. From our 25 years of work on accessibility at Microsoft, we at ADC have learned that people with disabilities represent one of the world's largest untapped talent pools, and that inclusion of disabled talent is crucial to achieving our mission. Our employees with disabilities continue to be the catalysts of our innovations such as Learning Tools, live captioning in Teams, Seeing AI and many more. We continue to actively work to hire and nurture people with disabilities to bring their expertise into our processes, products, and culture at every level."

Speaking further about the importance of the Microsoft ADC Event, Sophie Okonkwo, Engineering Talent Sourcing Specialist, Microsoft ADC, added, "Diversity in the workplace is an essential component of any highly inclusive organization like Microsoft. Organizing this event to engage people with disabilities and allies in the Africa tech ecosystem is imperative, as the awareness of disability and inclusion needs to be widespread. The Microsoft Africa Development Centre Disability Event aims to celebrate the ability in disability and bring to the fore, the limitless possibilities that people with disabilities can achieve in an inclusive world."

The Microsoft ADC Disability Inclusion event is an open to all virtual event to commemorate the International day of persons with disabilities in Africa as well as reveal the ecosystem of Microsoft's commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce and work culture. The event's activities are backed up by organizations affiliated with Microsoft Africa Development Centre, and participants would have access to a wide range of mentors and speakers.

About Microsoft ADC

Microsoft Africa Development Center (ADC) represents Microsoft's first-ever engineering offices in Africa, with locations in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria. These centers were created by Microsoft to serve as a base for African industry leaders to create local solutions with global scalability as well as provide employment opportunities and further enhance technological innovations in the continent of Africa.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT" @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. For more information, news and insights from Microsoft, please visit Microsoft's news center at http://news.microsoft.com and or Middle East & Africa News Center (microsoft.com)

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SOURCE Microsoft ADC