African software engineers are the future
We are in the Tech Revolution!!
Technology is rapidly changing the world.
Computer software and hardware technologies have become indispensable to the modern economy.
Today, Africa is home to the youngest population of software engineers in the world, and with lots of VC investments for tech startups in countries like South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, the continent is now seen as a rising power in the tech world.
It’s perhaps no surprise that more African developers are getting full-time jobs due to both the rise in demand from local start-ups and the global demand for remote technical talents, according to Google’s latest Africa Developer Ecosystem report wherein 1,600 software developers were surveyed, 25 local experts were interviewed, over 20 external sources were consulted, and 16 markets were modeled across the developer population.
The origin of this article
Last month — on 26/08/2022, I held a poll asking “Are African software engineers the future?” in the Tech Twitter community (on Twitter, of course), which has over 23,000 members.
While just 193 people voted within the poll timeline of 24hrs, the survey revealed that 51.3% (more than half) of the community agree that African software engineers are indeed the future. 16.6% believe it is not the case, and 32.1% feel it might be too early to tell if the future of tech belongs to African software engineers.
Despite the total number of voters who took part in the survey, recent data also proves that the global demand for African developers is rising, per Google and Accenture.
What is currently on the ground?
African software developers have been responsible for the growth in local economies, and outside the continent, they haven’t fallen short of proving to be engines for digital transformation. A clear picture of this was back in 2019 when Jack Dorsey (CEO of Twitter, at the time) visited Nigeria. The availability of technical skills in the country impressed him, and during his visit; the company hired Dara Oladosu, who had built a Twitter bot that helps users to collate threads on the platform. This proves African developers’ ability to compete at the global level in solving challenges.
I sincerely believe that African software engineers can lead the world. The question is: will we (I’m one of them)?
With an increase in global start-up space, there has also been a rise in the demand for top technological talents, and Africa has placed itself as a significant source of fast-growing software engineering talents as 38% of African developers work for at least one company based outside the continent.
According to Accenture’s developer research, over 700,000 professional software developers are located across Africa, with a vast majority of the developers in the range of 18 to 34 years — which on average is significantly younger than the global average of 35 years, though, the majority are men.
Accelerators such as Andela, AltSchool, Decagon, Data Scientists Network, Utiva, and Univelcity to name a few, contribute to strengthening the developer pipeline and ensure a somewhat steady supply of talent for the ecosystem, by relentlessly pursuing ambitious goals of raising many well-vetted software engineers yearly.
Global tech companies have also been contributing to alleviating the talent bottleneck in the continent too: Through the African Development Center (in Nairobi and Lagos), Microsoft contributes to developing tech talent in Africa and plans to hire 100 full-time African developers by 2023. Huawei plans to invest $150 million into digital talent development by 2026, and back in 2021, they launched 5G DigiSchools in South Africa; aimed at improving basic education and vocational skills at an early age. Google also invests in Africa’s tech ecosystem with a mutual goal of building for everyone through regional training, community, and mentorship programs such as Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, Google Developer Groups (166 communities across 37 African countries), Google Developer Student Clubs, and Women Techmakers.
It’s also worth mentioning that post-pandemic, since Q4 2020, when businesses realized they could staff from anywhere and outsource continuously, there has been accelerated tech adoption across Africa and African developers with experience have been gaining traction with international companies.
What lies ahead?
While the African developer landscape looks promising, there’s much room for growth in countries like Rwanda, Morocco, Ghana, Senegal, Algeria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uganda, Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Cameroon, where there is a small to moderate developer population with an early stage startup and improving technology ecosystem.
There also has to be an intentional effort to get more women into the developer ecosystem across the continent. Every stakeholder across the ecosystem needs to do more in investing in digital skill building for the underrepresented developers, particularly women.
To preserve Africa as a pool for global talent in tech, African leaders should accelerate the adoption of forward-thinking policies that enable an environment for innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and developers to operate, grow and thrive, including access to electricity and other key inputs such as internet affordability and investment in leading technologies, as seen in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, and Kenya, who have also done well to be a home for a large developer population, strong startup ecosystem with a strong funding environment, and stable socio-economic conditions.
The tech ecosystem keeps booming in Africa. Even amid the current global inflation, African tech startups have jointly raised a whopping $3.1 billion in the first half of 2022 (more than the amount raised in H1’2021 and H1’2020 combined), with 83% of all funding going to startups in the ‘Big Four’ countries, such as Nigerian mobility fintech — Moove ($20M), Kenyan global leader for solar-powered solutions — D.light ($50M), South African fibre broadband provider — MetroFibre ($298M), Egyptian B2B e-commerce marketplace — Cartona ($12M), and Senegal-based fintech — Wave ($91.5M).
By looking at the level of investment in African tech start-ups over the last year, it’s safe to say that the ecosystem is delivering value, and investors, both local and foreign, are recognizing this value.
With so much immense talent and untapped potential, countries in Africa have the potential to grow by leaps and bound. Indeed, Africans are influencing the future of technology.
Africa can lead the world, but will we?
Are African software engineers the future? Can Africa lead in the global technology space? Let me know what you think.
That’s all, folks!
I was able to put this research article together using the Africa Developer Ecosystem report released by Google in partnership with Accenture. You can find a copy here.
Other resources include:
