There is no denying the fact that neither getting education nor getting a job is easy in many African countries, including Nigeria. It is to solve these problems and prepare youths for the computer revolution that is already bringing some form of renaissance to other parts of the world, that Andela was founded. Here is all to know about the company:
History of Andela and What it is
Andela was birthed in 2013 by Christina Sass, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Ian Carnevale, Jeremy Johnson, Brice Nkengsa, and Nadayar Enegesi who set out to bring computer technology closer to African youths.
What obtains normally, is for people to pay in order to learn. However, the founders of the company flipped the coin by coming up with a training company which will pay youths as it trains them in computer and software development.
The company was founded in Nigeria and USA with its headquarters in New York City, USA. It is a software training company based in Africa with the sole aim of advancing technology as well as solving the problem of Africa and also to train young people to become world-class software engineers.
The founders of the company, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, and Jeremy Johnson started off with individual companies with similar goals of educating people on technology. While Iyinolowa and his crew first had a company called Fora which was a learning platform for Universities in Africa (though due to some challenges faced by the company, it was not quite successful), Jeremy worked with 2U, an educational company as a co-founder. Jeremy’s ideas brightened the vision of Iyinoluwa and later together with the other co-founders, founded Andela with the same vision.
Narrowing to Andela Nigeria, the company has its base in Lagos with its initial office in Yaba. However, the company relocated to EPIC Tower around Ikorodu road in 2017 following its vast number of trainees and the growth of the company. The company is currently coordinated by Biodun Laaro with a country director, Omowale David-Ashiru, a first-class economics graduate of the University of Ibadan. Despite being a woman, Omowale’s skills in entrepreneurship and managing has won her the role of leading the company to another stage.
How Andela Works
As stated, what Andela does is to recruit, train as well as give mentorship to people in software engineering. What makes this company stand out among many is the payment of trainees instead of the other way round. The company doesn’t stop at training but goes as far as hiring them out to other technology companies partnering with them, mostly in the United States.
Financing
It is able to raise funds to train and pay those it trains from funds it is able to raise from companies such as DBL Partners, Amplo, Salesforce Ventures, and Africa-focused TLcom Capital. Its main financing is from CRE Venture Capital. In Series C funding, Andela raised up to $40 million. It was also funded by other investors such as Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, GV, and Spark Capital.
While the company’s headquarters is not in Africa, Andela has now become one of the highly funded company on the continent.
Campuses and Companies it has worked with
Andela has set out to train as much as 100,000 genius-level young people all over Africa in the next 10 years to fill the many software positions that are left unfilled all over the world. To achieve this, it has set up different campuses all over the continent including places such as Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, among other parts of the continent.
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As of 2016, the company pointed out that there were close to 1.3 million software jobs in the United States that were left unfilled, and part of these is what it is trying to fill. So far, its trained coders have worked on projects with companies including Mastercard Labs, Viacom, GitHub, and Gusto.
It was reported in 2017 that the company had hired 500 developers out from its pool of over 70,000 candidates.
Andela salary
According to the company, it invests as much as $15,000 in each developer on the first six months. It offers laptops, subsidized housing, and two meals per day, as well as the skills, they get. After the first six months, Andela says it pays around $2,500 each month for those in Lagos and around $3,000 for those in Nairobi per month.
How to apply to the Andela Fellowship as a developer
To apply as a developer, simply visit the company’s website to see if the application process is on. If it is, click on get started and put in your details and email address, and then submit the form. An email will be sent to you with a link to start the application proper.
THE APPLICATION PROCESS:
Stage 1: Online Application- You will be required to fill the form
Stage 2: Technical Assessment: You will be expected to study the modules on your own and then complete a technical assessment even when you have no prior coding experience.
Stage 3: In-Person Interview: successful applicants would be invited for an interview with the staff members and developers from the company.
Stage 4: Attend a Bootcamp: If you are successful, you will be invited for a two-week Bootcamp.
Stage 5: Become an Andelan: Once you are successful, you will begin Andela’s four-year Fellowship Program.
Standing of Andela
Andela has been ranked the best company to work for in Nigeria by Jobberman in the annual best 100 companies to work for in Nigeria in 2018. It has also won the first spot in Africa and that alone has made the company stand out.
Investors have continued to creep into the company since it has prospects to continue to bloom in Nigeria, across Africa and the United States. Some of the company’s investors include the Facebook owner, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter Investor Spark Capital, San Francisco amongst others.
What stands Andela out amongst many companies is its ability to give the society (especially young people) a “powerful weapon which can change the world”. Educating people is its foremost priority and they make it a lot easier than the usual rigorous training done by many institutions in Nigeria and the world. Amidst the training and the monthly salaries are given to students, jobs are secured for them afterward. Andela has won itself a place in the world of software, in the hearts of Nigerians, Africa and the world at large and from the look of things, it still will change a lot of things globally.
