Photograph — Andela

Applications for Andela’s newly launched software engineering training in Kigali opened on Tuesday, January 14, 2020, the company said in a press release. The 5-month program is targeted at aspiring and entry-level engineers in Rwanda.

Called StackUp, the intensive remote program will provide engineers with the necessary technical and soft skills to become a FullStack JavaScript Engineer, said Andela, which plans to leverage its experience garnered in over five years of operation.

StackUp will also boost the aspiring technologists’ level of experience to meet the market demand as they seek to gain employment. “Our ambition for Rwanda is to create employment opportunities for technology practitioners across all range within the local tech-ecosystem, whether via Andela’s remote working model or a local company,” says Clément Uwajeneza, Andela’s Country Director for Rwanda. “This is why we are thrilled to have created this cutting edge program that will help aspiring technologists navigate their next steps as they seek to jump-start their engineering careers.”

Similar to Andela’s distributed workforce model, whereby engineers remotely join scaling technology companies to accelerate their product development, StackUp applicants will remotely complete a rigorous technical program, acquiring hands-on experience in JavaScript.

JavaScript is a programming language widely used to create a dynamic and interactive experience for the end-user. Up to 73 percent of developers said they knew JavaScript compared to other popular languages such as Python [57 percent] and Ruby [13 percent], according to the 2019 HackerRank Developer Skills Report.

How StackUp works

Opened to entry-level engineers, the 5 months program is divided into two stages; a 2-month Roll Up Phase where learners go through a technical assessment, interview and boot camp as well as 3-month project work which covers these tech stacks:

  • PostgreSQL – An open-source SQL Database.
  • Express JS – A fast, unopinionated, minimalist web framework for Node JS.
  • Node JS – An open-source, cross-platform JavaScript run-time built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript Engine.
  • Docker – An independent container platform that enables organizations to seamlessly build, run and share any application, anywhere.
  • React/Redux JS – An efficient, and flexible JavaScript library for building user interfaces.

StackUp will utilize Andela’s curriculum and program structure that has transformed over 700 engineers from software engineering enthusiasts to world-class engineers working with its global partners like GitHub, Coursera and BBC, the company said.

Andela is a global technology company that builds distributed engineering teams with Africa’s top software engineers. With presence across the continent, including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and most recently Egypt, the engineering-as-a-service company was launched in 2014 to build world-class engineering teams. Through its programs in tech communities across the continent community such as StackUp and the Andela Learning Community [ALC], the goal for Andela is to impact 100,000 engineers in the next three years.

The initiative in Kigali comes on the back of a partnership between Andela and the Rwanda Development Board [RDB] in July 2018, to build a technology hub for software engineers, based in Kigali. The capital city, regarded as a “model of technological excellence on the African continent”, was chosen as a strategic location due to its strong existing infrastructure and ease of access for engineers across the continent.

“The nationwide demand for technical expertise in engineering is high; this is largely due to Kigali’s push towards ICT excellence and goals of becoming a technology hub,” Uwajeneza added.

Interested applicants can apply to join the StackUp here.

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