Pan-African software development hub opens in Rwanda

The company is partnering with the Government through the Rwanda Development Board, an organisation responsible for transforming the country into a dynamic global hub for business, investment and innovation.

A model of technological excellence on the African continent, Kigali was chosen as a strategic location for Andela's first 'pan-African' hub due to its strong existing infrastructure and ease of access for developers across the continent. Through the partnership, RDB will support Andela's efforts to build a pan-African workforce and support the development of Rwandan and other African talent.

This is supposed to catalyze the company's mission to invest in Africa's most promising talent and build the continent's future technology leaders, adding to the 700+ Andela developers based in the company's existing locations in Lagos, Nairobi and Kampala.

"We are thrilled to have found a partner in the Government of Rwanda whose mission is so closely aligned with our own: to grow and sustain a pan-African elite tech workforce. In Kigali, we have found a location that makes travel to-and-from other African countries seamless and also has the modern and connected infrastructure we require to collaborate with a global workforce," says Andela co-founder and CEO Jeremy Johnson.

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Seni Sulyman, Andela VP, global operations, says: "As the first fully 4G African city, Kigali continues to push towards ICT excellence and is fast becoming one of East Africa's key tech hubs. 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."

Through a distributed model of work, developers gain global experience with the world's top technology firms while working remotely from an Andela campus. This enables them to actively contribute to the growth of their local tech ecosystems by leading developer groups, mentoring junior technologists, and serving as an example of how local developers can compete on a global level.

Applications will be open to candidates from any African country looking to jumpstart a global career in software development from August of 2018 and its Kigali tech campus will launch in December of 2018. The company will also open applications for the Andela Learning Community (ALC), which provides free resources and mentorship to aspiring technologists, in Rwanda and Tanzania in August of 2018.