When Stephen Wahome, a Kenyan based in Boston, US co-founded a startup, KWG Softworks with its scope being tech outsourcing, he had a conviction that he would change the narrative in the world of software development.
Wahome and his partners Anthony Gentles and brothers Ayoub and Ibraheem Khadar moved on to conquer the world by offering services in a sector turning out to be highly marketable.
One of KWG Softworks’ biggest clients was Zipline Interactive, a marketing company based in Spokane.
Zipline Interactive sought the services of the Boston-based startup via Upwork, a freelancing site and the job done was nothing short of sterling.
“Steve’s response was very specific, professional… It seemed like he knew exactly what we needed,” Jessica Ford the proprietor of Zipline Interactive said as quoted by bostonglobe.com.
KWG Softworks outsources tech development work from skilled software developers back in Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana who write codes and build mobile apps remotely. This has so far worked out well.
“There is a vast amount of undiscovered tech talent in Africa. Most are very well versed in agile development, the gig economy, and best practices in tech,” Wahome, a Bridgewater State University business graduate with an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Lowell remarked.
Wahome cited that Africa has a high number of skilled people in this field but the job opportunities are fewer.
“There’s more talent than there are opportunities,” Wahome said.
Since founding the firm in 2019, KWG Softworks has enlisted 20 software developers in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon.
Chibuokem Ebuka, a Nigerian is one of the developers working for KWG. He was signed in April and has so far completed a website development project.
He works remotely from his hometown in Enugu where he is also an engineering student.
Ford who later discovered that her project was executed back in Africa and not in the US was so impressed and is looking forward to working with KWS Softworks once again.
“At the end of the project I told Stephen I’m going to actively look for projects where we can work together again,” she said.
Over the last couple of years, skilled African workers have been outsourced to foreign companies to meet increasing demand in software development.
Hendrik Malan, a partner at Frost & Sullivan, a business consulting firm held that: “Many of the major markets in Africa (South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya) have developed significant software development skills in recent years.”
Editors note:
This article was sourced from The Boston Globe and has been rewritten to suit Jamhuri News audience.