Here are 5 Reasons Why Global Giants Are Looking to Africa for Developers
There is an African tech renaissance brewing in the underbelly of inflation and economic instability that is currently rocking the continent.
A new crop of tech-savvy young and driven developers, and professionals with skills and expertise in abundance that global brands can lean on to execute some of their most complex tasks.
For years, the traditional destination for offshore resourcing by global companies has been Asia; however, in the last decade a shift to Africa has been brewing and the case in favor of Africa is definitely compelling.
Africa is the youngest continent in the world, with a median age of about 19 years. For comparison, the median ages in Asia, North America, and Europe are 32, 39 and 42 years respectively.
According to the World Bank, around 12 million African youth enter the job market each year.
In addition, the continent has strong undergraduate and graduate technology programs. Courses such as computer science and engineering are currently the trending areas of interest. Africa is an open field for innovation and technology
African countries such as Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Rwanda are a growing engine for new global startups and a trusted region for quality software development partnerships, with a large number of tech companies, unicorns, and established startups.
The obvious talent pool aside; Africa costs less and pays less, making it an ideal offshore outsourcing destination for affordable resources and human capital.
The cost of living in Africa is relatively lower than in popular offshoring hubs like Asia and Latin America.
A global organization can afford to spend less in Africa to get the same or even higher output as their onshore setup.
African developers are highly proficient in English thus US and European companies can enjoy smooth communication without having to face barriers or misunderstandings. English is the first language of most of the continent, followed by French and Spanish.
To top it off; time zones in Africa are conveniently positioned for engaging global clients and coordinating business activities in real-time. It also helps ensure round-the-clock production and service delivery.
In short, by offshoring to Africa, global businesses can harness a large pool of working-age people who are agile, motivated, tech-savvy, well-trained, and communication proficient; at a lower cost; and who work on their time to achieve their goals.
African start-ups such as SSESSA; BANDWIDTH PA and Andela are currently providing homegrown and trained African developers to some of the world's biggest companies ; and have been doing so successfully over the last few years. There are indeed more examples of such thriving offshore resource companies on the continent and the numbers are growing.
The proof is in the pudding. Africa is ready to serve the world
What an excellent blog, there is more hope for Africa, and may God bless those that are thinking of other people survival and not only to themselve.