If you clicked this article, chances are you’re a developer in Africa, or you’re a developer anywhere in the world, just intrigued to know how it goes on in Africa. Well, you’re all welcome.
If you’re like me and easily gets intrigued, you might be wondering why exactly does this article needs to be written. I feel like everybody in every part of the world has a idea of what Africa as a continent is. With the recent surge developer count arising from Africa, I think it’s only proper that we talk about what it means to be a developer living in Africa.
Tech Gadgets
I have been a developer for 6 years now, and starting out all I had was my Nokia phone with the qwerty keyboard. Thank God W3schools is a somewhat lightweight website, at least at the time. There are many other developers like me, who initially had no access to laptop or any kind of computational device. In Africa, except for the elites, schools rarely have any computer facility. Young studs who are interested in tech are forced to use their phone or just choose another career path. This is the first hurdle African developers have to overcome if they even want a shot at a career.
Constantly Trying To Prove You’re Not a Nigerian Prince
After learning programming and finally achieving the dream of becoming a developer, getting a job’s the next thing. We have to admit, all of the sweet software engineering jobs are abroad. To foreigners, our reputation really isn’t all that spotless. Admittedly, we do have quite a lot of scammers, and the majority has ruined so much of our reputation, it’s hard to make it in the foreign tech labor market.
The term Nigerian Prince is synonymous to a scammer. As African developers we have to constantly prove to foreign employees or clients you’re not a scammer simply because you’re from Ghana, or Kenya, or Nigeria.
Being an African developer means you’re going to get a LOT of rejection emails not because you’re not qualified.
On The Bright Side…
On the bright side the resilience of developers all over Africa has made big tech companies notice us. We have companies like Twitter, Google, Microsoft, Andela, and even Amazon start to open branches in Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa. We’re seeing more start up founders in Nigeria, and more and more developers are making it into big tech.
Although being a developer in Africa might be more challenging, but we’re being recognized gradually and that’s a good thing. I believe that tech will continue to grow in Africa, ultimately making it easier on African developers.
Anyway, I just decided to write this out. If you enjoyed the article you can follow me on Linkedin! Thanks.