Despite the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the African continent’s developer ecosystem is on the rise, findings of a study conducted across 16 Sub-Saharan African countries has revealed.
Technology giant, Google, had launched the Africa Developer Ecosystem Report 2021, which is the outcome of a study conducted through fielded and analyzed surveys of software developers as well as interviews with local experts.
- Nigeria set to use atomic materials for energy supply – FG
- ALERT: Ponmo that can cause deadly diseases imported into Nigeria – NAFDAC
Africa Developer Ecosystem Report 2021 is the second in a series of studies on the state of the continent’s Internet economy.
The first, which was published in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), found that Africa’s Internet economy has the potential to reach 5.2percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025, contributing nearly $180billion to Africa’s economy.
The projected potential contribution could reach $712billion by 2050.
According to the 2021 report, demand for African developers reached a record high in 2021 against the backdrop of a global economic crisis and the impact of the pandemic. This, according to report, is evidenced by the magnitude of growth in Nigeria’s professional developer population, which added an estimated 5,000 new professional developers to its pool in 2021.
Also, despite a contracting economy, the pool of professional developers increased by 3.8percent to make up 0.4percent of the continent’s non-agricultural workforce while salaries and compensation rose, as more developers secured full-time jobs.
The report further revealed that with increased (+22percent) use of the internet among Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) on the continent, the need for web development services also increased alongside higher demand for remote development work as 38percent of African developers work for at least one company based outside of the continent.
Also, Venture Capital investment in African start-ups rebounded as the digital economy expanded. As revealed in the report, African start-ups raised over $4billion in 2021, which is 2.5 times more than in 2020, with fintech start-ups making up over half of the funding.
The shift to remote work also created more employment opportunities across time zones and continents for African developers while lifting the pay for senior talent. As a result, international companies are now recruiting African developers at record rates.
The developer ecosystem in Nigeria is also thriving as observed in the report, following the strong demand for developer talent, significant support from big tech, and start-ups; thus, raising the largest total amount of funding on the continent in 2021. “As countries like Nigeria continue to transform, they will unlock more opportunities for developers who, in turn, grow the economy,” the report states.
While the report observed that Global technology companies are investing in digital skills-building across the continent to improve job readiness and alleviate the tech talent bottleneck; it urged governments to also play a vital role in strengthening the developer pipeline by investing in both internet access and education; stressing that learners, junior developers, as well as underrepresented groups including women, need more support.
Managing Director, Google in Africa, Nitin Gajria, who spoke during the virtual launch of the report expressed that while Africa’s technology innovation sector is making great strides, global tech companies, educators and governments can do more to ensure that the industry becomes a strategic economic pillar.
He said that Google is determined to further ignite training and support for this community by bridging the existing developer skills gap and concentrating efforts in upskilling female developers who face pointed challenges.
Following a series of initiatives, including developer advocacy, start-up acceleration, training programmes, and global technical mentorship that the company has implemented over the last 10 years, Gajria disclosed plan of Google to train 100,000 developers across the continent by 2022.
“To date, the African continent is home to more than 150 active Google Developer Groups and 100 Developer Student Clubs in Africa. Combined, these groups reach over 200,000 community members in 40 of the 48 countries in the Sub-Saharan African region. To reach this potential, we have to provide better access to high-quality, world-class skilling on mobile technologies platforms coupled with increasing connectivity in Africa. Our effort to increase connectivity is focused on infrastructure, devices, tools and product localisation,” Gajria added.
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.
