Google has announced an additional 30,000 Android and Google Cloud training scholarships for those who want to become professional developers in Afrika. For this program Google Africa is partnering with Andela and Pluralsight for the fifth year in a row.
The announcement comes in a year which Google released its Developer Report detailing how opportunities for software developers in Afrika are at an all time high primarily as a result of the booming startup ecosystem and the global demand for remote work.
"Mampho and Christopher are two software developers based in Johannesburg and Lagos respectively who have graduated from the Google Africa Developer Scholarship program. They both heard about the opportunity online and decided to apply for the Google Cloud learning track. After completing the training, they went a step further and took the Associate Cloud Engineer certification. This has enabled them to be more productive at work, and opened up a world of new opportunities for them," writes John Kimani, Program Manager - Africa Developer Training, at Google Africa.
According to the report commissioned by Google and released earlier in 2022, demand for Afrikan developers reached a record high in 2021 against the backdrop of a global economic crisis and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With increased (+22%) use of the internet among small and medium businesses (SMBs) on the continent, the need for web development services also increased alongside higher demand for remote development work (38% of Afrikan developers work for at least one company based outside of the continent).
Beyond just the rise in demand for developers, salaries and compensation also rose, and more Afrikan software developers are reported to have secured full-time jobs.
"Google is invested in the growth of Afrika’s internet economy. Google aims to train 100,000 developers across Afrika in 5 years through Google Developers Training, with the commitment going through 2022," said Nitin Gajria Managing Director, Google in Africa, in an interview with iAfrikan.com.
This is a point also echoed by Kimani when announcing the Google Africa Developer Scholarship when highlighting that it is ean ffort to show Google's continuous support and commitment to Afrika's developer ecosystem.
— By Tefo Mohapi
