Morocco ranks 5 in Africa with largest number of Software developers

 Morocco ranks 5th in Africa with a total of 50,000 Software developers in 2021, up 6% compared to last year with a total of 47,000 specialists, according to a recent report released by Google and Accenture.

Moroccan Software developers represent 7% of total African developers, behind Kenya 4th (60,000), Nigeria 3rd (89,000), Egypt 2nd (89,000), and South Africa (121 000), which is placed 1st.

This report involved 16 countries across Africa, including Cameroon, Egypt, Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Uganda.

The developer population rose by 3.8% in 2021, “with their average incomes also increasing, despite the remaining effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy,” said the report.

This slight increase in activity was mainly explained by the rise of local start-ups in the continent, which hire over half of African developers, accounting for over USD 9 billion in 2021, 2.5 times more than 2020.

Overall, the number of African software developers grew by 3.8% in 2021 to reach 716,000 developers, 85% of whom are men, with 23,000, and 29,000 developers mainly from Algeria and Tunisia respectively, making them “emergence” leading nations.

In terms of the developer landscape trajectory, Morocco is placed in the cultivating category, the fostering landscape for growth, alongside Rwanda, and Ghana.

South Africa topped the list in the maintaining category, where its proven to preserve steady growth, having the largest developer population, and investing in leading technologies.

South Africa was also found to have a strong education,  robust startup, and technology ecosystem dominated by larger companies, according to the report.

Developers had more opportunities due to the circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic, “as work turned out to be held remotely, with many international companies hiring foreign profiles, and requiring IT services in the process.”

Experts estimate that most engineering teams will continue to work remotely post-pandemic, “which bodes well for African developers,” added the report.

In fact, African developers with experience are gaining traction with global, and international companies, as many of them learned to code for international work opportunities.

The report stated that Google continued to grow the pan-Africa developer, and startup initiatives, offering 40,000 new mobile, and cloud developer training scholarships for Africa in partnership with Andela and Pluralsight.