Andela launches in its third African country, Uganda

Andela has launched its operations in Uganda. This is the third operating country for the Zuckerberg-backed developer startup. Andela already has operations in Nigeria and Kenya. Andela trains software developers for 6 months and then deploys them to tech companies around the world that need their skills.

Andela says it chose Uganda after looking at every country in Africa with a population of 3M or more, and then evaluating those countries on a series of metrics including ICT (information and communications tech) prevalence, ICT quality, population, and median age.

According to the tech startup, “Uganda is home to the second youngest population in the world, with 70% of the population below the age of 25. Andela sees this as an opportunity to equip the next generation of technologist and innovators in Kampala with the expertise they need to accelerate the advancement of their communities through technology.”

“Uganda is also home to a vibrant tech scene, with several tech hubs and incubators (Hive Colab, Women in Technology, and Outbox among them) and tech events happening weekly. Over 50% of Uganda’s GDP is from the informal sector, which employs 80% of the workforce. We’ve already seen the impact of tech in the informal sector and Andela wants to accelerate that growth by developing the next generation of technology leaders.”

Andela started off in Lagos, Nigeria three years ago and opened its Nairobi office two years ago. Just two weeks ago it moved its Nigerian office into a new building, EPIC towers in Lagos.

It has grown from a founding team of six to over 600 Andelans spanning three countries and two continents. Last year June, Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan’s social issues-minded fund invested $24 million in Andela to enable the startup train more engineers in Africa to get tech jobs.