Google opens registration for Africa Developer Scholarship 2022

In response to the growing number of developers and techies on the continent, Google has launched the Google Africa Developer Scholarship (GADS) project for 2022.

Learners can obtain free access to curated courses, hands-on experience, projects, skill evaluations, and Google certifications through this programme. They can also seek assistance from a pan-African network of peer learning groups and community mentors.

Google is providing an additional 30,000 Android and Google Cloudtraining opportunities for aspiring and established engineers in Africa, For the 5th time in a row.

Also, Google is teaming with some of Africa’s on-demand training platforms, including Andela and PluralSight, to further their commitment to the continent’s developer ecosystem.

According to Google and Accenture’s 2021 Africa Developer Report, the demand for software developers in Africa is rapidly increasing, possibly due to the booming tech startup scene in Africa, which is estimated to gone up to 12,000 in 2020, or the global surge in remote work, which is putting developers and tech professionals in high demand.

Goals for Google in sync with the report

According to the report, Google has tried to work with the findings of the report study to achieve its mission goals and some of them are:

• Despite the reduced economy caused by the COVID 19 epidemic, the number of developers on the African continent has expanded dramatically, and the proportion has climbed by 3.8 globally. This spurred compensation increment and the availability of full-time remote jobs. The tech giant hopes to provide knowledge expertise for prospective developers in Africa, with the hopes of assisting them in breaking into the global market tech arena.
• The demand for web development and data engineering has risen dramatically as a result of the growth of the digital economy, venture capital investments in African businesses, and the need for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and business owners to join the trend of bringing their operations online. According to the research, African entrepreneurs raised about $4 billion in 2021, nearly twice as much as they did in 2020. Most tech jobs can now be done remotely, giving African developers more career prospects across time zones and countries.
• Despite the need to promote African developers, it is also necessary to balance underrepresented groups such as women. According to the survey, there are 2.5 per cent fewer women developers in the workforce today than there were in 2020, indicating that the wealth disparity between men and women has expanded. It is intended for any group of people, including the underrepresented, to participate in the Google Initiative program. Aside from this initiative program, the big tech company has built other channels to encourage women developers, such as Women Techmakers and Women Will.

Follow this link to apply for the Google scholarship.

Google tech in Africa

Nigeria has built an interactive relationship between the digital revolution and the growth of African developers throughout time. In the year 2021, the country’s entrepreneurs and startups raised the most money on the continent. As countries like Nigeria expand, new opportunities for developers will emerge, allowing the economy to flourish.

For almost ten years, the tech giant has been assisting African developers through community and training programs. There are currently over 180 active developer communities in 30 African nations, which allows developers to network, learn, and grow together. According to the report, about one out of every two engineers in Africa has participated in a Google developer training or community activity.