Software development in Africa (PART “A”)
Hi there! It’s good to have you here, my name is Bolu from Simplex Business Solution. We have seen the effect of Software development in Africa’s economy and growth. Therefore, it is important we share an insight on this topic.
What is a Software?
A set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware from which the system is built, and which actually performs its work.
What is software development?
Software development refers to a set of computer science activities dedicated to the process of creating, designing, deploying and supporting software.
Software itself is the set of instructions or programs that tell a computer what to do. It is independent of hardware and makes computers programmable.
Software development in Africa is a critical discussion when looking at the technical growth within the country and Africa at large due to the population size this country controls. Not only does this create awareness it also creates job opportunities and for some even at the comfort of their settlement.
Software development industry is booming in Nigeria. According to recent reports, entrepreneurial software development hubs are emerging across the country, especially in Lagos. Notably, these tech hubs foster budding communities for software developers, driving consumer growing. In addition, global tech giants including Microsoft have invested over $100 million into the country’s software development. This has allowed businesses to open tech centers in Africa. Plus, more employees could find jobs as well. As an entrepreneur in the tech industry, you need to know why software development is on the rise in Nigeria. This way, you can properly plan your development startup with Simplex Business Solution.
Total number of software developers per African country
Let’s look at the size of the tech talent pool in African countries. We have cross-referenced data from LinkedIn, GitHub, and a recent IFC report on the African internet economy. As a result, we have made a relatively consistent estimation of the total number of software developers per African country.
The top-17 countries, in terms of the absolute number of developers, represent more than 90% of the entire African IT talent pool. Therefore, have further focused our analysis on these countries.
We’ve got over 690,000 professional software programmers across the continent, and Nigeria’s emerging as a hotspot with global investments pouring in.
The top 17 countries, including South Africa, Egypt, and Nigeria, account for over 90% of the African IT talent pool. Nigeria, being the giant of Africa, presents a massive market opportunity with its large population, despite having a modest number of developers relative to its size.
Now, let’s tackle some key points:
- Education Impact: About 68% of Nigeria’s youth have secondary education, raising questions about whether this level is sufficient to nurture financial IT experts. Specialized training initiatives could bridge this gap.
- Internet Awareness: Despite a significant 122 million active internet users in Nigeria, it’s clear that the level of education doesn’t solely determine interest in software use. There’s a vast internet-savvy population with access to smart applications.
- Financial Pressure: The insurance industry in Nigeria faces challenges with awareness and acceptance. Financial pressures and low per capita income contribute to insurance being a low priority. Software solutions could play a role in increasing accessibility and awareness.
Indeed, insurance industry in Nigeria has since inception been battling with unawareness problem and poor patronage by the masses.
Insurance expenses always occupy the last position in the scale of preference of an average Nigerian. To the extent that even the five compulsory insurances in Nigeria are affected by this problem.
On our next series we would be looking at the investment sector in respect to development of software for their services.