![[Interview] Clément Uwajeneza, Country Director, Andela, Rwanda](/assets/components/phpthumbof/cache/Clement%20Uwajeneza%20-%20Andela-Rwanda.8b9e9c238b4a37cc031afe849f0b91f7.jpg)
[Interview] Clément Uwajeneza, Country Director, Andela, Rwanda
Clément Uwajeneza is leading the Rwandan arm of Andela's international organization of software engineers in Africa. Africa Business Communities has a brief chat with him.
What does Andela do?
Andela is an engineering-as-a-service business that builds distributed engineering teams quickly and cost-effectively. We build distributed engineering teams with Africa’s top software engineers; we currently have 1,000+ engineers working as full-time, embedded members of development teams at over 200 tech companies across the globe including GitHub, Coursera and BBC. We currently operate in Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt and Ghana. We also have offices in the United States.
When did Andela commence operation in Rwanda, and with what objective?
We started operating in Kigali in 2018, in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board [RDB]. Our objective was to build a pan-African space that would support the development of Rwanda and other African talent.
Andela recently launched the StackUp program in Kigali. What does this program bring to the tech community in Rwanda?
At Andela, we are focused on creating employment opportunities for software engineers on the continent across all ranges within the local tech-ecosystem. With StackUp, we’re providing an intensive 5-months program that will give aspiring and entry-level engineers some hands on experience, thus helping them kick start their career.
Our goal is to upskill Rwandese engineers with some experience so that they can have adequate skills to meet the market demand as they seek employment. For now, we’ve chosen to focus on JavaScript as it’s a very popular programming language used to create a dynamic and interactive experience for the end-user.
Who can participate in this program?
StackUp is remote learning program open to Rwandans living in or out of the country
In what direction will Andela be going in 2020, with regards to the African tech market?
Andela will hire another 700 experienced engineers by the end of 2020 in order to keep up with demand from our partners. To continue creating junior engineering talent at scale, we will invest in the Andela Learning Community, through which we’ve already trained more than 30,000 learners in software engineering fundamentals. Over the next three years, we plan to cultivate more than 100,000 engineers across the continent who will, in time, contribute to the growth of their local tech ecosystems as well as the broader technology community.
Also read:
[Interview] Catherine Jura, Director Learning and Development, Edify Learning Forum Africa, Kenya
[Interview] Walid Amer, Partner & Senior Associate, Elevate Business Consulting, Egypt
[Startup Interview] Lwazi Nongauza, Executive Director, BTN Mobile, South Africa
[Startup Interview] Benjamin Manirafasha, CEO, Iris Hub, Rwanda
[Startup Interview] Elizabeth Eweka, CEO, IDHS, Nigeria
Africa Business Communities is conducting a series of interviews with CEOs and MDs in Africa. Do you fit the profile? Great! Send an e-mail to bas@africabusinesscommunities.com
