Akua K. Gyekye

Akua Gyekye serves as Microsoft’s Regional Government Affairs Director for Africa and oversees the company’s legal and government affairs team providing support and regulatory counsel on public policy issues relating, among other things, to artificial intelligence, cloud, data privacy, data protection, cybersecurity, digital safety and integrity, and international trade.

With a distinguished career spanning law, policy, technology, finance, and international development, Ms Gyekye joined Microsoft from WhatsApp, where she managed public policy and government affairs in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Before that, she spearheaded Meta’s election integrity work in Africa and was instrumental in establishing the company’s first Africa Policy Team. Ms Gyekye’s career also includes her experience as a project finance lawyer at Clifford Chance, one of the world’s largest international law firms headquartered in the UK. She previously engaged as a legal advisor in Liberia and Nigeria working for organizations like the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, and USAID. Throughout her career, Ms Gyekye has collaborated with and advised governments, and a broad range of private and public sector stakeholders providing expert advice on good governance, technology policy, and development finance projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and the USA.

Ms Gyekye holds a Master of Laws degree in International and Comparative Law from The George Washington University Law School, a Law Degree from Cambridge University in England, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Law and Society from American University, with minors in International Relations and Spanish. She is qualified to practice law in New York and the United Kingdom, and currently resides in Nairobi with her husband.