Rwanda’s capital Kigali will soon host Africa’s biggest talents in software development at the new Pan-African technology hub which will be launched by American technology training company Andela in December 2018.
Andela is partnering with the Rwanda Development Board to build a pan-African workforce and support the development of African talent who will be the continent’s future technology leaders.
According to a statement, Kigali was chosen due to its “strong existing infrastructure and ease of access for developers across the continent”. The co-founder and CEO of Andela, Jeremy Johnson said they partnered with the Rwandan government because they share in the same mission.
Andela VP, Global Operations, Seni Sulyman said Kigali is fast becoming one of East Africa’s key tech hubs as the first fully 4G African city continues to push towards ICT excellence.
“Connecting talent with opportunity on a global scale is Andela’s ethos, and with the opening of our Kigali hub, we expect to extend opportunities to thousands more software engineers from across the continent who will make their mark on the global tech scene via Kigali,” Sulyman adds.
Andela launched its operations in Nigeria in 2014 and has over 700 employees based in Lagos, Nairobi and Kampala. They collectively help power the technology teams of more than 150 global companies, including Viacom, Pluralsight and GitHub.
Mainly funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Andela was founded in the United States to train software developers in Africa and offer employment opportunities for young, talented Africans.
Applications will open in August for the software development training and the Andela Learning Community (ALC) which provides free resources and mentorship to aspiring technologists in Rwanda and Tanzania.