Andela Rwanda launches an apprenticeship program to match talent with Africa’s top businesses.

An apprenticeship program has been launched in Rwanda by Andela, a global network for remote technical talent, with the goal of connecting international businesses with the enormous potential of rising Rwandese digital talent.

Companies have the opportunity to expand their teams with graduate apprentices from the Andela Technical Leadership curriculum (ATLP) during the 12-week curriculum. The ATLP is Andela Rwanda’s flagship accelerator program, developed in collaboration with the nation’s Ministry of ICT and Innovation. It equips Rwandese citizens with the fundamental knowledge of software engineering needed to become the next generation of tech leaders.

“The Apprenticeship Program is a singular opportunity for international organizations to tap into the enormous potential of Rwandan tech talent and contribute to determining the direction of technological development in Africa. Companies that work with Andela’s talented and committed apprentices not only improve the performance of their teams, but they also help the continent’s technical skills grow. Help us develop the next generation of African IT leaders by joining forces. — Mike B. Ndimurukundo, Andela Rwanda’s managing director.

Participants in the ATLP learn how to work as a team to develop web apps using best practices based on Javascript and its accompanying frameworks in a setting that resembles a real-world technological product scenario.

Over 70% of ATLP graduates are already working, and the program has so far effectively taught 380 junior engineers from 10 different African nations. 150 more students are currently enrolled in the program.

The developer apprentices at Andela have received extensive training on the PERN software stack (PostgreSQL & MongoDB, Express, React, Node). Additionally, they have finished an immersive, hands-on course where they learned the soft skills necessary to succeed as professionals in any remote engineering team.

Apprentices from Andela will be expected to improve team performance and create business value to their “adopter” enterprise. Organizations are encouraged to take part in the program in order to boost team productivity and support the technological advancement and talent development of the African continent. Organizations will provide a stipend directly to their apprentice.

In order to guarantee that the apprentice is completely informed of all expectations and behaves appropriately, Andela Rwanda will help participating organizations throughout the three-month program. This support will include performance management through a strong and tight feedback loop between the apprentice and an organization’s team lead. Additionally, there will be coaching sessions and monthly technical workshops available to help apprentices advance their knowledge and become more valuable members of teams.

Organizations wanting to participate in this unique program can find more information here.