African tech startup Andela which attracted investment from Facebook and tennis star Serena Williams raised $100m from venture capital funds in January, has sacked over 250 of its staff this week. This has become the largest layoffs in the continent's budding tech industry. The dismissed employees include junior software developers from Nigeria and Uganda. Up to 170 trainees from Kenya were also "impacted", the company said in a statement on September 17. With this, Andela is ending its entry-level training programs for tech developers in the aforementioned countries. Only Rwanda, which is one of its four bases, will continue to train. 

Andela's co-founder and CEO, Jeremy Johnson said in a statement that the company's initial strategy was to identify high-potential talent on the African continent and train them in software development. However after completing the training, it became clear that the majority of the demand is for more experienced talent, he added.

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What led to the layoff?

The African technology company has over 1,500 engineers. They train talented developers in Africa and outsource them to about 200 tech companies in the US and around the world. Yet there has been a decrease in demand from Africa as there has been a growth in junior web developers in the US. This has led Andela to take the decision of dismissing juniors and focussing on training and hiring experienced staff.

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About Andela

Founded in 2014, Andela set apart its identity in the tech industry with the motive to identify and develop software developers. The founders, Ian Carnevale, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Jeremy Johnson, and Christina Sass were professionals who were working in the online education and recruitment business. With its name inspired by former South African president, Nelson Mandela, the company worked to help global companies overcome the severe shortage of skilled software developers. In June 2016, the company received funding from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Later in 2017, Andela raised $40 million in Series C funding. CRE Venture Capital, DBL Partners, Amplo, Salesforce Ventures, and TLcom Capital invested in Andela, making it one of the most highly funded African companies not based in Africa. On January 2018, Andela raised $100m from venture capital funds, bringing its total funding to $180m. They have four bases has in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and the United States.

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