Egypt Has Most Advanced Tech Ecosystem in Africa According to Google

While this may come as no news to longtime observers, Egypt has been named as having the most advanced tech ecosystem in Africa, alongside Kenya and Nigeria, by a new Google report.

First and foremost, the ‘Africa Developer Ecosystem Report 2021’ is absolute on one thing: that the content’s tech development ecosystem is on the rise. Through a study conducted with software developers and local experts in 16 nations, the report also categorised Tunisia, Algeria, Ivory Coast, and Senegal as countries with emerging tech ecosystems for developers, while Morocco, Rwanda, and Ghana have been categorised as still in a stage of cultivation. 

As the second in a series of studies on the state of Africa's internet economy, the report highlighted that demand for African developers reached a record high in 2021, despite or because of (depending on how one looks at it) the impact of the pandemic. It also reported that use of internet among SMB's increased by 22%, while the demand for web development services and remote development work also increased, with around 38% of Africa-based developers working for at least one company based outside of the content.

Another interesting point is the perceived effect of the shift to remote or hybrid modes of work. The report suggests that this has opened more employment opportunities for African developers across different locations and time zones, which in turn has raised pay for senior developers.

The shift to remote work also created more employment opportunities for African developers across time zones and continents while lifting the pay for senior talent. As a result, international companies are now recruiting African developers at record rates. Bootcamps and certified education opportunities have also been credited with the evolution of tech development in Africa, offering developers the chance to learn and improve to an international level - something that has caught the collective eye of global tech companies like Microsoft, who are rolling out more and more training programmes in emerging markets. 

For Egypt, it has long been said that the ecosystem is full of technical talent that can rival any country, which the report seems to legitimise - and we’ve seen that talent bloom into making Egypt one of the most desirable investment opportunities for not just regional investors, but global ones.