Whilst the job market in much of the world has been in a parlous state since the financial crash of 2008, the market for talent in technology has remained pretty healthy throughout.

Despite this however, youth unemployment remains a major issue in much of the western world.  I wrote recently about a project in Philadelphia to encourage and support artisans via the maker movement, and a similar kind of project has emerged recently out of Africa.

The project, known as Andela, is a talent accelerator that aims to give young Africans access to the same kind of educational resources as young people in the developed world.

In addition to this training the service offers mentoring to promising young people, before connecting them up to employs from around the world who are in need of developers who can operate remotely.

Youngsters can apply for the four year fellowship at the campus in Lagos, after which they go through a free two week boot camp to determine their suitability.

Such is the competition, just one percent of all applicants are said to be successful.  Those who do make the cut however are given roughly 1,000 hours of training in technologies such as JavaScript.

Once the students are equipped with enough knowledge to enter the workforce, they are connected up with a range of partnering organizations that require remote developers.

Once they complete their four year term at Andela, they can choose to remain with the organization and continue working via their network of partners, or use the skills and experience they’ve gained to branch out on their own.

For potential partners, Andela suggest that their pool of developers can be recruited for approximately half of the cost of similar talent elsewhere, and the buyer can rest assured that the rate is still fair.

The hope is that the platform offers developers in parts of Africa a chance to develop their skills and experience in western environments, without having to leave their home country.  The aim is for this to therefore bolster the local economy in each region.

It’s certainly an interesting project and further evidence of the global nature of knowledge work.  Certainly one to keep an eye on.