Andela, the company known for connecting African software developers to global clients, has expanded their talent pool to welcome Latin and South American developers.
Andela confirms that this opportunity is open to Africans and non-Africans in those regions.
Jeremy Johnson, the company’s CEO, says the decision “has always been part of our long term roadmap, and we’re excited that the world is ready for it.”
He describes the move as a reflection of the “future of work,” one that is remote and not restricted by geographical boundaries or a need to share physical spaces.
In July 2020, Andela closed its physical offices in Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda to become a fully remote company. The particular rationale at the time was to increase the number of Africans who could apply to work for the company as software developers.
While the pandemic’s restriction on physical movement influenced that change in policy, there was some logic to it. Andela’s physical offices were sited only in major cities in each country they operated (Lagos, Nairobi, Kampala; their Cairo operation was remote-first from day one). Anyone who wanted to be an Andela developer had to move to these cities.
By going remote, a qualified developer anywhere in Africa could apply to Andela. At the time, Johnson said it opened Andela up to 500,000 potential engineers from the previous 250,000 available under a physical-office model.
However, the remote logic was destined to extend naturally; if going remote opens Andela up to more African developers, it also opens them up to developers everywhere in the world.
In the past six months, Andela says it has witnessed a 750% increase in applications from qualified engineers outside of Africa. More than 30% of inbound applications in March 2021 alone were from outside of Africa; half of that 30% were from Latin America, according to the company.
Latin and South American countries are Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries from Mexico on the southern border of the United States, through Colombia and Brazil to Chile and Argentina.
Andela frames this diverse base as an advantage for their clients.
Companies who have people from different geographies on their engineering teams stand to get the benefit of diverse backgrounds, lived experiences and approaches to work that improve the quality of their products.
Get the most comprehensive roundup of technology news on the continent, delivered to your inbox every weekday at 7am WAT
Read this next
Nigerian recruitment and skills training company Jobberman has announced Rolake Rosiji as its new chief executive officer. According to a Jobberman statement, Rosiji will “continue the work of establishing Jobberman as the primary platform for job searching, talent acquisition and transforming workplace productivity across Nigeria.” She takes over the reins from Hilda Kragha who was […]
More From TC
For Uber and Bolt drivers to make ₦15,000 ($36) in revenues daily, they have to spend a minimum of 10 hours on Lagos roads. Shonuga also estimates that ₦4,950 ($12) will be used to fuel their cars and then Uber or Bolt will charge ₦3,750 ($9.10) in fees.
Written by Olamilekan Toyeeb Abolade, NACOS National President Mowa Ijasanmi is a university student in southwest Nigeria. He spends as much as ₦18,000 ($50) every month to access the internet. His time on the internet is spent attending virtual meetings, streaming or downloading lecture videos, and communicating with people. The high cost of data in […]
Kemitt, an e-commerce startup headquartered in Egypt, has secured an undisclosed six-figure amount in funding from a group of Saudi Angel investors. Founded in 2018, Kemitt is a marketplace that enables product and furniture designers to connect with their end customers. Kemitt provides an online platform to product designers and gives them the tools they […]
In 2019, when Opera introduced OList it was with a rather silent launch. Compared to other product lines like Opay or Oride, there was no press release announcing the launch of OList, just a mention in its financial statement. OList is a marketplace that connects buyers and sellers to opportunities. It’s part of Opera’s strategy […]