Andela’s retrenchment of junior developers has destabilized a lot of career plans made by these young talents in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda. In September 2019, Andela had announced the end of DO, its developer training programs in these countries and the dismissal of 420 junior developers.
Although plans were made with the Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB) and Innovation Village to prepare some of these outgoing developers for placement opportunities, there is a need for platforms that operates just like Andela.
The good news is that such platforms exist. These platforms also train local entry-level developers and place them on contracts to earn revenue over a certain period. Some of these companies offer competitive packages that can incentivize ex Andelans.
The first on my list is Gebeya. The tech company is committed to train home-based Ethiopian software developers and outsource to multinational companies. Gebeya takes these aspiring developers through international software standards for four to six months.
Lambda has also opened its doors to applicants from Ghana, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria and South Africa. It takes students through an intensive 9 months internship on full-stack software development. The package includes access to a co-working space, electricity and internet supply. At the end of the program, there is a high chance of finding employment internationally.
There is also the HNG Internship which aims to bridge the gap between the desires of just learning to code to becoming a skilled software developer. The internship is a 3 months remote training program that introduces intern coders to complex programming frameworks. In the end, finalists are immediately connected to job opportunities for full-time jobs and contracts.
Decagon is another notable mention. It is a software engineering institute that graduate and deploy world-class software developers in 6 months of unpaid training. The offer includes mentorship in a community of tech leaders and job placement on a ‘pay-as-you-earn’ basis.
Natterbase is an upcoming talent accelerator platform that enables companies to hire developers remotely. Though a propriety developer management tool, companies can track the speed, accuracy and outputs of the software developer during the timeline of a project.
These are just a few examples. As the saying goes, one door opens when another closes. This shows that there is still hope for Ex Andelan junior developers who want to gain tangible employment or contracts in Africa.
