Original Story Published by: Tom Collins for African Business Magazine
Photo Source: ©African Business Magazine
Edtech startup Gebeya is playing a key role in the development of Ethiopia’s technology sector. Tom Collins talks to CEO Amadou Daffe and director of operations Bekure Tamirat about the company’s training model and its ambitious plans for expansion.
For two years, a quiet technological revolution has been underway in a busy second-floor office block in the heart of Ethiopia’s rapidly developing capital Addis Ababa.
This revolution has seen homegrown Ethiopian software developers outsourced to companies ranging from startups in New York to French multinationals in Senegal – not to mention flagship Ethiopian businesses just around the corner.
Gebeya – meaning “marketplace” in Amharic – believes it can supply Africa’s IT industry with the talent it needs to become a global digital leader.
CEO Amadou Daffe is steadfast in his commitment to Africa’s tech revolution and has implemented a business model to follow suit.
With 400 developers already on the books, his aims are clear: “Gebeya should resonate in the next five years as the best company to get tech talent from in Africa.”
Building talent
Africa’s institutional ecosystem for producing software engineers is lacking.
While Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt have decent higher education facilities covering science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects, the vast majority of African countries lack academic expertise.
As a result, many companies, whether foreign or local, hit a talent barrier when looking to grow their technological functions, resulting in the importation of disproportionately expensive expert knowledge.
Daffe describes Africa’s approach to building its tech industry as putting the cart before the horse.
“Without the talent you can have all the great ideas in the world, but you won’t be able to implement,” he says.
“I believe that the only way we can even have the proper tech industry – and one which can eventually globally compete – is for the talent to be proven first.”
Gebeya, for its part, has been training talent through an education facility in its Addis academy.
To read the full article, visit African Business Magazine.
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