Doctor, Lawyer, Accountant ?… Software Developer.
To youth in African countries, tech careers present a life-changing opportunity to earn a living from high demand skills anyone can learn on Youtube.
Incremental advances in African markets’ regulatory and social environment have replenished African software participators’ creative juices, making them more eager to explore new tech opportunities.
Remote working and cross-continental collaboration have become an accompanying effect to an upswell in local software engineering firms popping up all across the continent.
Interest in software programming is growing as catalytic conditions such as infrastructure problems, digital accessibility, eCommerce, and e-government demand transformative vision by decision-makers. Growth in Innovation hubs, startups, and co-working spaces is the primary indicator for charting the market’s growth.
In 2020, Github, which serves as home to over 56 million active software programmers worldwide, ranked Nigeria (#1) and Egypt (#5) among its countries with the highest growth software developers contributing to the platform.
Kenya’s iHub and The Co-creation Hub in Nigeria are just two examples of spaces anchored to support tech communities and software developers in East Africa.
In addition to these innovation spaces, education programs like Teencoders, based in Nigeria, have reached over 5,000 students who will learn to program and develop technology during after-school and weekend coding classes.
Ghana Code Club has trained more than 1,700 students and 300 teachers across 100 centers on Africa’s west coast.
And to promote diversity and reduce the gender gap in tech spaces, African Girls Can CODE was developed as an initiative of the African Union Commission (AUC), UN Women Ethiopia, and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to train African girls to code.
Popular Programming Languages in Africa.
Python, Java, JavaScript, and C# are the essential programming languages in Africa for developers seeking employment to know. .NET, PHP, C, C++, and Swift are being demanded less in regional jobs.
From an investment perspective, Africa’s new breed of competent programmers serve as a secret weapon to companies and ambitious executive teams looking to develop software and web assets that rival western standards for a fraction of the price.
