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To build an effective tech talent ecosystem in Africa, all stakeholders have to respect the game and it's players.
We will not build anything sustainable if we are not honest.
A long thread!
@iaboyeji @asemota @Kolokodess @AdewaleYusuf_ @domm @iamtomiwa @aniediudo
We will not build anything sustainable if we are not honest.
A long thread!
@iaboyeji @asemota @Kolokodess @AdewaleYusuf_ @domm @iamtomiwa @aniediudo
My name is Ike Okosa, I am the CEO of @eWorker_co, an evidence-based hiring platform that connects global companies to senior software engineers in Africa.
I was born and raised in the UK and until 2015, I had never spent more than 2 weeks in Nigeria.
I was born and raised in the UK and until 2015, I had never spent more than 2 weeks in Nigeria.
I started my first business, Swoop Media in 1998 (I know, some of you weren't yet born) - https://www.printweek.com/News/article/laminator-increases-productivity-and-cuts-costs-for-swoop-media
I've also been involved in a few other business partnerships and ventures over the years.
I've also been involved in a few other business partnerships and ventures over the years.
Even though I have a computer science degree and have studied Java, C++, .net and taught myself PHP and mySQL, I do not consider myself to be a developer. Fundamentally, I am a startup CEO and I wear multiple haps, just like most founders.
eWorker is a bootstrapped start-up. Our idea was formed in 2015, and 6 months later we launched version 1.0 of eWorker, a freelance job platform in 2016.
I've learned that it's okay not to have everything figured out, as long as you're open to learning.
I've learned that it's okay not to have everything figured out, as long as you're open to learning.
When we launched the first iteration of eWorker in 2016, I thought we had it all figured out. A freelance platform for digital jobs in Africa. It sounded great, until I moved to Lagos in 2016. The plan was to stay here for 6 months, understand the ecosystem, then go back to...
...London, raise money and scale. That didn't happen and I am still between Lagos and London. To be direct, solving the African talent problem is complicated.
When we started, we hadn't yet built a team, so I hired an outsourcing company to build the first version of eWorker in
When we started, we hadn't yet built a team, so I hired an outsourcing company to build the first version of eWorker in
@php_net and @MySQL. Pretty much a http://freelancer.com for Africa.
We had escrow, gigs and much more (features not value). I remember convincing the CEO of http://Escrow.com to provide us with escrow payments in Nigeria, which they didn't do at the time.
We had escrow, gigs and much more (features not value). I remember convincing the CEO of http://Escrow.com to provide us with escrow payments in Nigeria, which they didn't do at the time.
The first version is still online, check it out: http://www.eworkerafrica.com . It's painful when your idea doesn't work and you've invested time and money in building. But that's okay, learning has it's cost. Nowadays, we (team) do things differently - MVP and build internally.
The mistake we made was taking 6 months and £20,000 to build a fully spec'd out solution. It's much smarter to build an MVP that you can use to test your hypothesis and learn ( @sgblank). You can always rebuild when you've figured out the right business model.
And that's exactly what we did with the current version of http://www.eworker.co (version 3.0). Its hacked together, but it helps us to effectively manage our processes. Right now, our value proposition is not the platform, it's our talent identification framework.
The reason version 1.0 didn't work was not because it was a clone. It was because we didn't understand African talent. Finding good talent in Africa is complicated! Anyone who has had to do it understands the pain!
Using organic social media post, we managed to sign up 500...
Using organic social media post, we managed to sign up 500...
African freelancers in a matter of weeks. They would upload their work, customise their profiles and add freelance gigs. Some of the work was really good and some of it was poor. Some users stole other people's work and presented it as their own (even copying from other...
registered users). We did this for a while and attracted a number of low value jobs. When it came to freelance work everyone already went to http://freelancer.com or Fiverr. We decided to pull the idea and pivot after having an office hours session with @mwseibel of ....
@ycombinator at @vp_fund in 2017.
We pivoted to local hiring to better understand the tech hiring space, pretty much tech recruitment - version 2.0. Will do a seperate thread about that painful experience another day.
We pivoted to local hiring to better understand the tech hiring space, pretty much tech recruitment - version 2.0. Will do a seperate thread about that painful experience another day.
We've spent 4 years attempting to solve the tech talent problem in Africa, its our commitment! But Solving the African tech talent problem is not an easy task, ask @Andela, they're still trying to figure it out.
It's taken us years of experiences, thousands of interviews, thousands of assessments, ever changing business models and a lot of money to figure out how to effectively identify top talent and solve the African talent problem.
As many of you know, filling tech roles goes a lot deeper than simply advertising jobs and posting tweets. If that worked, recruiters would have an easy life, but they don't.
I've lost count of the number of local hiring managers that have said they can't find good quality talent and their roles remain unfilled. This problem is not limited to tech. Folks in the Nigerian HR space like @FaseunYemi and @lola_esan can testify to this.
To better understand the problem, we put together http://www.eworkerhr.com to get deeper insights using skills assessments (which also is not enough). We've spent over $30,000 on assessments (we literally paid for everyone we tested).
We tested thousands of candidates for eWorker and many local partners including @maxdotng, @mypaga @Ark_Insurance @NIBSS_NG @BusinessDayNg and more. https://businessday.ng/uncategorized/article/businessday-launches-skill-assessment-platform-to-bridge-the-unemployment-gap/
Our assessment results are alarming (releasing soon). That was when we realised how mammoth the problem was. The truth is 90% of applicants to tech roles are unqualified. We once had a wheelbarrow pusher who applied for a senior developer role 
.
.
To help solve the problem, we launched a free online curriculum to help African engineers learn how to code in a structured way ( http://www.eworker.co/curriculum ), but that also wasn't enough and presents it's own challenges.
All is not lost, there's actually a solution, but it's going to require many players. We need to develop a talent value chain similar to the food industry.
If @eworker_co @gdglagos @Andela @FBDevCircles @aniediudo @markessien @iaboyeji @unicodeveloper @Kolokodess & @developerayo
If @eworker_co @gdglagos @Andela @FBDevCircles @aniediudo @markessien @iaboyeji @unicodeveloper @Kolokodess & @developerayo
... come together we can combine our learning to build out a value chain that produces exceptional talent that will enable our ecosystem to compete on a global scale. There is no quick fix, its a long game and joint effort.
I also think that African developers have to be honest about their skills, their ability and where they need help. You are competing against international talent and there is no point in being dishonest, it reflects badly on the entire ecosystem.
To Nigerian employers, the developers you want to hire are applying for international roles. The salaries they are seeking is 5x what you typically pay (disconnect). You need to stand out in order to attract the right people. Remember, developers are human beings not machines.
Culture is important. A good start is, a book called 'An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization' https://www.amazon.com/Everyone-Culture-Deliberately-Developmental-Organization/dp/1625278624
Local tech companies should also improve their internal talent pipeline. This can be done by developing structured one year paid internship programs. After the internship the intern is transitioned into a junior role. Getting this right is a winning strategy.
There's a lot of work to be done and it requires all hands on deck. We've done the meetups, we've done the conferences, but now it's time to do more.
@eWorker is comminted to assessing every developer in Africa (WHO HAS OVER 3 YEARS COMMERCIAL EXPERIENCE FOR FREE). Sign up now: https://www.eworker.co .
If you are as passionate as us about building a thriving African tech talent ecosystem, reducing brain drain and connecting developers to great opportunities, we need to collaborate. My DM is open.
I can't leave @Ingressive4Good out of the solution. They're also very passionate about the ecosystem and are doing some great work in the space.
