Moniepoint picks 20 from 9,000 applicants in push to close Nigeria’s tech talent gap
Nigeria’s Moniepoint Inc.
Nigeria’s Moniepoint Inc. has begun training a select group of 20 engineering graduates from a pool of more than 9,000 applicants, as part of a targeted effort to address Africa’s widening shortage of industry-ready tech talent.
The programme, known as DreamDevs, is a nine-week bootcamp designed to fast-track participants into professional software engineering roles, with top performers expected to secure internships and potential full-time jobs at the company.
The initiative reflects a growing trend among African fintech firms to build talent pipelines internally, as demand for skilled developers continues to outpace supply in one of the continent’s fastest-growing sectors.
Applicants for the 2026 cohort underwent a multi-stage selection process, including an online technical assessment and a physical coding challenge, before the final 20 were chosen. The highly selective intake highlights both the depth of interest in tech careers and the limited availability of structured, industry-aligned training opportunities.
“At Moniepoint, we believe Africa’s tech talent can compete globally if given the right environment,” said Felix Ike, co-founder and chief technology officer of the company.
He added that the programme is designed not just to train participants, but to create a direct pathway into employment.
Delivered in partnership with Semicolon Africa, the bootcamp combines classroom learning with hands-on experience in building real-world financial systems. Participants will be trained in programming fundamentals, data structures, backend development, and cloud infrastructure, with exposure to production-level engineering environments.
The move comes as Nigeria pushes to expand its digital workforce under initiatives such as the federal government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) initiative, aimed at training millions of tech professionals to support the country’s digital economy.
Private-sector programmes like DreamDevs could play a critical role in bridging the gap between academic learning and workplace requirements, particularly in fintech, where system reliability and scalability are crucial.
For participants like Wisdom Iyamu, the programme offers a rare opportunity to gain hands-on experience in building high-impact products. “I want to learn how to build systems that scale and be part of teams solving real problems,” he said.
Moniepoint, which provides digital payment and banking services to businesses across Africa, said the bootcamp also aligns with its broader strategy of investing in human capital to sustain long-term growth.
As competition for skilled engineers intensifies globally, such initiatives may increasingly determine which companies can scale effectively in Africa’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
