Thriving Tech Communities for African Tech Professionals

Chika O.,

Being part of a community makes life easier. The same can be said of tech communities. They aim to help aspiring and expert tech professionals (techies) in their journey to get into tech or accelerating their career growth. They do this by offering access to networking and job opportunities, learning materials, scholarships, mentors and, buddies.

At the beginning of my tech journey, I did not know much about tech communities. I discovered one – Women In Cloud – by chance. After that chance discovery and the impact being in communities have had on my tech transition journey, I have not stopped talking about tech communities.

This is a list of tech communities that can accelerate the career growth of African tech professionals. It is not an exhaustive list, but it will continue to grow. I have categorized them into the tech roles they are focused on. I have also ensured to cover as many tech roles as possible. Some of them are global communities but are still beneficial for tech talents in Africa.

To find one that will feel more like your tribe when you join, search for tech communities that are located within your country or city.

1. Women in Tech Communities

She Code Africa is a non-profit organization and tech community that empowers and celebrates African women through mentorship, training, events, internships and community building. It aims to create a more diverse and inclusive tech ecosystem in Africa and beyond. It also partners with organizations to provide scholarships to women and girls entering tech.

This is a global non-profit organization that provides women with resources, opportunities, and networks to excel in tech careers. It organizes online and offline events, workshops, hackathons, scholarships, and more to inspire and support women in tech.

As the name implies, this community is focused on cloud technologies. It is a global community of women entrepreneurs and professionals that are working to generate $1B in economic access for women through partnerships with corporations, community leaders, and policymakers. It offers cloud accelerator programs, Microsoft cloud skills, networking, and job opportunities, amongst other things.

PyLadies Ghana is a Ghanaian subset of the global PyLadies network, which has chapters in more than 30 countries. It is a tech community that focuses on helping more women understand Python programming, and get into the Python open-source community. It organizes events, workshops, and programs aimed at achieving these goals.

2. Design Communities

This is an African design community that is passionate about providing quality design education to African designers. It’s community members come from the different disciplines that make up the field of design in technology. Àṣà Coterie offers online courses, mentorship, projects, events, and more to help designers learn and grow.

She Designs is a global design community for under-represented women of color and non-binary people. It provides online courses, mentorship, and career coaching to help women learn design skills and build their portfolios.

Figma Africa is an African tech community of designers who use Figma, a collaborative design tool. It provides a platform to connect, network, and grow design skills with online and in-person events across the continent. It is open to everyone, from advanced practitioners to aspiring novices.

3. Data Science and Machine Learning Communities

According to their LinkedIn page, this is a community for data practitioners and contributors across Africa. It started as DataFestAfrica, an event that showcased all career professions within the data space in Africa. The community aims to provide learning programmes, certified courses, job and internship opportunities, and networking events for data enthusiasts in Africa.

   They collaborate with other organizations such as Data Science Nigeria, Data Science East Africa, and Data Science Kenya to promote data science and machine learning in Africa.

This is a global tech community of data enthusiasts. They have a newsletter, podcast, slack channel, and books. They also organize events for networking opportunities.

The ML Ops Community is a vibrant and inclusive online community for tech enthusiasts interested in AI and machine learning. It is dedicated to advancing the field of Machine Learning Operations. This community unites engineers from diverse backgrounds to address the challenges of constructing AI/ML pipelines for production, with emphasis on practical strategies.

This is the Nigerian chapter of the global MLOps community that organizes meetups, workshops, and discussions on MLOps topics in Lagos, Nigeria.

4. Google Technologies Communities

Google Developer Student Clubs are communities of university students who are interested in Google technologies and products. There is a community for each country and some higher institutions. It provides training, projects, events, competitions, and more to help students learn and apply Google technologies to solve real-world problems.

5. Software Development and Open Source Communities

This is an African community of software developers and enthusiasts who share their knowledge and experience with each other. It organizes online and offline events, podcasts, newsletters, blogs, and more to foster learning and collaboration among developers.

OSCAfrica is a tech community of open source enthusiasts who promote the culture of open source contribution in Africa. It educates, empowers, and supports developers who want to contribute to open source projects. It also organizes events, hackathons, workshops, and more to foster collaboration and learning.

The aim of this Nigerian tech community is to bring the best Laravel developers in Nigeria together. It is a growing community that hosts online and offline events, workshops, podcasts, newsletters, and more to help developers learn and master Laravel. It also connects developers with Laravel jobs and projects.

This community boasts of being Nigeria’s largest Angular community. It consists of developers in Nigeria who share their knowledge and experience with the popular JavaScript framework. It hosts online and offline events, workshops, hackathons, and more to help developers learn and master Angular.

Devops Nigeria is a community of DevOps practitioners in Nigeria who share their knowledge and experience with the practices and tools of DevOps. It offers the opportunity to network and learn about new products and tools.

This is an online community of JAMstack developers in Lagos who share their knowledge and experience with modern web development architecture. It offers knowledge of new ways to build websites and apps that meet the highest standards.

Devcenter Square is a tech community for software developers in sub-Saharan Africa to enable collaboration on projects for clients across the world. It provides a platform for developers to find projects matching their skills and interests. It also provides mentorship, training, resources, and support to help developers grow their careers.

6. Artificial Intelligence Communities

AISaturdays is a global community of artificial intelligence (AI) learners who meet every Saturday to learn and build AI projects. It offers free-to-access courses, mentorship, resources, and opportunities to help anyone learn AI. It also connects learners with experts, researchers, and companies in the AI field.

7. Quality Assurance Testing

Association of Nigerian Software Testers is a community of software quality assurance testers in Nigeria who share their knowledge and experience with software testing. It shares learning resources, networking, and job opportunities on Twitter.

8. Digital Marketing Communities

This African tech community of digital professionals aim to share their knowledge and experience in digital marketing. The community offers opportunities to learn, share, collaborate, and leverage connections. It also connects digital marketers with jobs and opportunities.

9. Tech Empowerment and Education Communities

A non-profit organization that empowers African tech talents with skills, resources, and opportunities to succeed in the global economy. It offers online and offline training, mentorship, scholarships, internships, jobs, and more to help tech talents learn and grow. It also connects tech talents with mentors, investors, and employers.

How to become a community member

The process of joining these communities may vary depending on the platform, but generally, you need to take the following steps:

1. Visit the website or app of the community you want to join and sign up for an account using your email, social media, or other credentials.

2. Fill out your profile with basic information about yourself, such as your name, location, interests, skills, etc. You can also upload a photo or avatar to make your profile more personal.

3. Browse the topics, tags, or categories that match your interests and join them. You can also search for specific keywords or phrases to find relevant content or people.

4. Start engaging with the community by reading and commenting on posts, asking and answering questions, sharing your projects or articles, joining events or challenges, etc. You can also follow or message other users to build connections and friendships.

5. Be respectful, helpful, and friendly to other community members. Follow each platform’s rules and guidelines. Avoid spamming, trolling, flaming, or harassing others, and report any inappropriate or abusive behavior to the moderators or admins.

Conclusion

The importance of being part of a tech community as an aspiring techie or an expert cannot be overemphasized.

I hope you find this list helpful in finding your tribe and discovering tech communities that will accelerate your tech journey.

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