The global tech industry has recently witnessed a wave of layoffs triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and the harsh economic climate.
Apart from the economic crunch, the massive layoffs in the tech industry have been traced to the need for strategic shifts towards emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).
A McKinsey report published in 2017 predicted that up to 400 million jobs globally would be displaced by 2030 due to the advent of automation, driven in part by AI and robotics. This is corroborated by a CNN report which notes that about 10% of US workers are in jobs that face the greatest risk of disruption from rapidly evolving artificial intelligence.
According to a report by Business Financing UK and data analysed by Layoffs.fyi, the biggest tech company layoff events globally in the last four years were isolated in different countries and continents based on the number of employees laid off by a company and the period.
10 biggest tech company layoffs in Africa since 2020
The table below shows the top 10 tech companies in Africa that laid off the largest number of staff during the period;
| S/N | Company | Industry | Staff Laid Off | Country | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jumia | E-commerce | 900 | Nigeria | Nov 2023 |
| 2 | Alerzo | E-commerce | 400 | Nigeria | June 2023 |
| 3 | Renmoney | Fintech | 391 | Nigeria | April 2020 |
| 4 | Copia | E-commerce | 350 | Kenya | July 2023 |
| 5 | Wave | Fintech | 300 | Ghana | July 2022 |
| 6 | Twiga | Agritech | 283 | Kenya | Aug 2023 |
| 7 | Twiga | Agritech | 211 | Kenya | Nov 2022 |
| 8 | mPharma | Medical | 150 | Ghana | April 2023 |
| 9 | Alerzo | E-commerce | 100 | Nigeria | Nov 2023 |
| 10 | Bitmex | Crypto | 75 | Seychelles | April 2022 |
The African tech sector faced substantial layoffs since 2020, with big e-commerce platforms like Jumia and Alerzo laying off over 1000 employees combined.
From the table, Nigeria led the group with online retailer Jumia laying off 900 employees in a single event — more than any other tech company in Africa. Nigerian B2B e-commerce firm, Alerzo laid off 400 employees followed by fintech brand Renmoney (391 employees).
According to Techcrunch, more layoffs have already been recorded in the global tech industry in 2024 following significant workforce reductions with about 60,000 job cuts across 254 companies with the most layoffs occurring in April 2024 (22,153).