This Senegalese farm is training the next generation of African data engineers 

EcoFarm, an eco-friendly farm in Fimela, a Senegalese village positioned about 150 km southeast of Dakar, the nation’s capital, has began training the next generation of data engineers in Africa. The farm performs host to a six-month-long data training residency the place 30 data engineers from throughout Africa will attempt to advance their expertise in machine studying and AI, cloud computing, coding, DevOps, and extra. The challenge goals to create between 30,000 to 35,000 direct and oblique jobs by 2030. TechCabal visited the farm final December to know what’s behind the lofty ambition coming from this distant village.

Sitting on a ten,000 m² fenced land, EcoFarm is surrounded by a couple of buildings and bushes. On the farm’s premises are completely different bushes and crops, together with mango, coconuts, lemon, papayes, and extra. Three fishponds sit in the middle of the farm, going through a mini-ranch. There is a biogas generator that converts animal dung into electrical energy; it is used principally to pump water. The farm has a 8-room hut-style resort, with a pool, and 10 out of doors tents that may host as much as 30 folks. 

“We do not add chemicals to the pool,” Moussa Traoré, the proprietor of the farm and convener of the data programme, advised TechCabal throughout our tour of the farm. He brushed the floor of the water together with his fingers. “We use the pool for three days and then take out the water for the plant.”  

Traoré is an engineer and has beforehand labored in several govt roles at Orange Sonatel, mom firm of one of francophone Africa’s high cell cash companies, Orange Money. He advised TechCabal that he resigned from his top-job in Orange to embark on a mission to take care of the earth, which he’s doing through his EcoFarm, planting bushes and inexperienced meals, rearing animals, and recycling waste merchandise. He is additionally serving to younger folks to construct capability in tech, which he’s at the moment doing through the data engineering residency programme. Before this residency, Traoré had supported expertise through Innovation House, a deep tech enterprise studio he based in 2017 in Dakar; the Fimela Data Residency is considerably a continuation of what he has at all times completed, besides now, he combines it with environmental cultivation—efficiently merging two of his ambitions in a single place.

Across the pool, in entrance of one of the huts, is a makeshift classroom the place the residents collect for his or her classes. During courses, Traoré, in his go-to fashion of T-shirt over shorts and sneakers, would sit throughout from the residents and instruct them in French. This is the pilot cohort. They started their residency final November, with six engineers as a substitute of the proposed 30 engineers. This is primarily as a result of they couldn’t elevate the $66,000 that was budgeted to run the programme earlier than kickoff day. Now, they solely have lower than $4,000 to work with. The residents come from Benin, Senegal, Congo, and Comoros, a small island nation in East Africa. 

“I love the immersive nature of this programme,” mentioned Boris Danmitondé, a 26-year-old resident from Benin. “Because of our diverse backgrounds, we are able to learn soft skills needed to thrive in an actual working environment,” he added.

For Djoumoi Moinsalima, a 23-year-old Comoros native who left the island for the first time in 2021 to pursue a grasp’s diploma in Dakar, the residency has been life-changing. “The lack of city distraction is the best thing about this residency. We know we’re here to learn, so everybody is focused on that,” she mentioned.

Strengthening Africa’s expertise pipeline 

General consensus says the world is at the moment going via an period of technological revolution, and Africa, in contrast to earlier revolutions, is poised to play a vital function in it. But how can or not it’s a key participant? Many pundits have mentioned the reply is expertise distribution, with a powerful conviction that the continent may be the largest provider of tech expertise to the relaxation of the world. Being the youngest inhabitants in the world, the chance of this occurring isn’t far-fetched, nevertheless it’s nonetheless an extended stroll away from victory. The continent should be intentional about creating sustainable initiatives that may construct a expertise warehouse succesful sufficient to serve eight billion folks. 

Over the years, Africa has benefited from a couple of such efforts from large firms and NGOs to create streams of expertise. For occasion, Google in 2017 dedicated to training 10 million Africans on digital expertise. In 2021, it mentioned it has reached over 5 million folks and launched paid certification in IT help, challenge administration, UX design and data analytics,, in partnership with Cousera.  Microsoft additionally launched an initiative to digitally upskill 25 million folks in 2020; and a 12 months later introduced it has helped 400,000 folks in South Africa achieve entry to expertise like software program growth and data evaluation. Nigeria’s Ingressive for Good (IG4G) has helped over 150,000 Africans and supplied over 2,000 with job placement, in accordance with its web site. Even startups are constructing enterprise fashions to monetise the expertise pipeline and elevating enterprise funds for it. Andela, one of Africa’s seven unicorns, constructed its whole enterprise on this. Alt School and Kibo School, two distinct newcomers, are constructing the next set of African tech expertise, and have raised $1 million and $2 million, respectively, to scale. 

Despite these efforts, and lots of extra, Google put the quantity of licensed software program builders on the continent at a bit of over 700,000 in 2021, a far cry from the 7.2 million software program builders from India in the identical 12 months. The astronomical progress of the Indian tech ecosystem is partly a mirrored image of the availability of expertise in the nation that stemmed from over 205 software program engineering faculties. These numbers counsel that Africa has an extended solution to go earlier than it may be the largest provider of world tech expertise. But Traoré feels otherwise. He believes the aim ought to be to construct the greatest, not the most, expertise. This knowledgeable his resolution to cap the quantity of residency slots at EcoFarm at 30 individuals, gathered at a bodily location, and never open it as much as tons of of residents per cohort, who would then need to be taught on-line. 

“This programme is to strengthen Africa’s talent pipeline by creating the best engineers with a sound entrepreneurial mindset that stand out in the fierce global talent market front,” Traoré advised TechCabal. 

The Orange ex-boss mentioned he’d wish to preserve the quantity of admitted residents small so the programme can deal with the few who get in and speed up them into world-class expertise. Unlike greater initiatives with deep pockets, working large digital training programmes, EcoFarm is optimising for the depth and high quality of engineers post-training.

Senegalese expertise panorama has a well-recognized drawback

Due to persistent mind drain, demand for knowledgeable expertise in Senegal has begun to outstrip provide, in accordance with a report by Jeune Afrique. Google reported in 2021 that there are solely about 10,000 builders in Senegal. But regardless of this crunch in the expertise pool, Senegal’s digital panorama continues to develop. In reality, the Google report nonetheless categorised the francophone county as an “emerging developer landscape trajectory”. “The lag can’t be further ignored and the pool must be revitalised to match the speed of the digital economy,” mentioned Didier Lescourant, a Dakar-based enterprise builder, who visited the farm whereas this reporter was there.

The Fimela Data Residency takes the monetary burden off its college students by taking care of their journey, feeding, housing, web, and shopping for devices for many who don’t have them. “We want to take away the barriers to learning,” mentioned Traoré.

But this is an enormous endeavor, particularly as the programme couldn’t even attain its funding aim. Programmes like this aren’t run on goodwill alone; they require a certain quantity of monetary reserves. Traoré, nevertheless, is satisfied that the success of this pilot cohort will decide the validity of this programme. At some level, he may need to hunt funding in grants or from institutional funds as this crowdfunding methodology is proving to be inefficient. He feels the world is watching and searching for indicators that the Fimela Data Residency isn’t simply one other programme that will probably be deserted after a couple of months.  

But Traoré is surrounded by individuals who think about him. “If there’s anyone to make this work, it’s Moussa,” mentioned Mathias Léopoldie, co-founder and CEO of Julaya, an Ivorian fintech startup, who was additionally visiting the farm at the time of this interview with Traoré.