According to Electric Capital's latest developer report, Sub-Saharan African developers account for only 4% of blockchain developers globally. The report, titled "Crypto Developer Report 2023," reveals that North America, Europe, and Asia have the largest share of developers, comprising 88% of the Web3 space.

While the number of developers has decreased in prominent developer hubs like the United States, Germany, and Canada, Nigeria has seen an increase in developer numbers, as indicated by the report.

However, Africa faces a shortage of developers. According to Tunga, a developer research firm, there are approximately 700,000 developers in Africa, a significantly lower number compared to the 4.4 million in the US and Germany's 800,000. With high unemployment rates and rising poverty levels, it becomes crucial to train and upskill developers to address the estimated global shortage of 85.2 million developers by 2030.

Africa's delayed adoption of Web2, the shift towards an internet system that focuses on individual user engagement, is well-known. However, since Web3 is a relatively new industry, it presents an opportunity for African developers to make their mark.

Electric Capital's research, which involved surveys on Github (where most of the crypto projects are open source), discovered that there are only 22,000 monthly active developers in the Web3 space. This marks a 24% decrease from 2022, which is expected due to the crypto winter and tech downturn. Nevertheless, the report also highlights the resilience of long-term developers in the space. Developers with over two years of experience in crypto are at an all-time high, showing 51% annualized growth over the past five years. Developers in crypto for at least one year have grown by 15% year-over-year and account for 63% of all monthly active developers. This indicates that developers already engaged in crypto projects are staying in the space despite the challenging environment.

Africa's focus on digitization is positioning the continent to produce a significant number of developers. According to data from the International Finance Corporation, it is projected that by 2030, approximately 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will demand digital skills. This will consequently result in the creation of over 650 million training opportunities in the region. Therefore, initiatives like Project Learn Project in Kenya and Co-Creation Hub in Nigeria play a crucial role in addressing this need for developer training in Africa.

Image Source: Andela