Start-up bets on tech talent pipeline from Africa

When Tolulope Komolafe first heard the pitch, she was skeptical. A fledgling company in Lagos, Nigeria, would pay her to learn how to write modern computer code and then offer her a good job in the high-tech economy.

“I thought it was a con,” she recalled. “Too good to be true.”

After inquiring, Komolafe moneymaking. It is betting found the offer was real. on its ability to build out a Today, she is a software talent pipeline of African developer, working remotely software developers to the from Lagos for a start-up in United States and elsewhere, New York, and she dreams of tapping into a continent starting her own tech eager to connect to the company someday. global digital economy.

Komolafe, a 27-year- old Jeremy Johnson, Andela’s Nigerian, is one of hundreds chief executive, says the company of young Africans who have offers “a very different joined Andela, a fast-growing model for unlocking human start-up based in New York potential.” that has attracted the attention The animating idea behind and money of people like Andela, founded in 2014, is Facebook founder Mark that Africa has plenty of smart Zuckerberg and works with people, but that they too often blue- chip companies like lack the preparation for and Mastercard. pathways to gainful jobs — the

The company’s ambitious missing ingredients that agenda spans education, economic Andela can developmentprovide in the field and of software development.

Not only does Andela instruct people in person, but 20,000 aspiring programmers across Africa have used its free online learning and training tools. By 2024, Andela hopes to have helped prepare 100,000 software developers in Africa for jobs, including thousands working for Andela.

After six months of paid training, the Andela employees become remote members of software development teams at companies. The current roster of 112 customers includes Viacom, Mastercard Labs, GitHub and SeatGeek in the United States, and clients in 10 other countries.