I moved to Tanzania recently (I'm a white western programmer with a remote job).
Some of the hurdles you have to jump over to become a professional programmer here:
- Have access to a computer (several months, sometimes years, of salary). Obviously.
- Have access to reliable power. I have 6+ hours power cuts almost daily here (and I'm in a rich town - not in the bush). Being a western Engineer, I could afford to build my own power backup system, but I'm the exception.
- Have access to the internet. Sure, I can afford broadband here, but at 60$+ a month, it's way out of reach for most people. Mobile is acccessible-ish, but most providers won't let you tether a computer (or charge through the roof for it).
- Read English well enough to understand online material. The corollary being that your family has to be rich enough to afford to send you to school (that is, primary and high-school. I'm not even talking about university here).
- Last but not least, actually learn programming (I met many westerners without any of the previous problems that fail utterly).
Once you pass all these, you still have to find a job, and that's not easy. Basically, some ISPs, some telco jobs, and very few regional things (web agencies etc...).
I hope working from home / remoting will continue to become more widespread - some very good programmers here are looking for jobs, and would love to stay.
Oh, and most of Africa shares timezones with Europe, too.
Comments
I moved to Tanzania recently (I'm a white western programmer with a remote job).
Some of the hurdles you have to jump over to become a professional programmer here:
- Have access to a computer (several months, sometimes years, of salary). Obviously.
- Have access to reliable power. I have 6+ hours power cuts almost daily here (and I'm in a rich town - not in the bush). Being a western Engineer, I could afford to build my own power backup system, but I'm the exception.
- Have access to the internet. Sure, I can afford broadband here, but at 60$+ a month, it's way out of reach for most people. Mobile is acccessible-ish, but most providers won't let you tether a computer (or charge through the roof for it).
- Read English well enough to understand online material. The corollary being that your family has to be rich enough to afford to send you to school (that is, primary and high-school. I'm not even talking about university here).
- Last but not least, actually learn programming (I met many westerners without any of the previous problems that fail utterly).
Once you pass all these, you still have to find a job, and that's not easy. Basically, some ISPs, some telco jobs, and very few regional things (web agencies etc...).
I hope working from home / remoting will continue to become more widespread - some very good programmers here are looking for jobs, and would love to stay.
Oh, and most of Africa shares timezones with Europe, too.