As we have grown into the digital age, we have experienced the rapid rise of coding. According to Burning Glass Technologies, an incredible 58% of job vacancies in the digital sector require coding skills of some description for roles ranging from computer systems analysts to software developers. The demand for these coding skills has risen sharply – 50% faster than the demand for other skills in the industry over the last decade. Not only does this show how far coding has come, but it hints at its increasing potential.
To understand not only the importance of coding to digital jobs but also the quantity of these jobs that require coding, we need some perspective. According to Payscale’s recent report, there were 26 million software developers employed across all industries globally in 2020. It is estimated that, by 2028, the number of software developer jobs will grow by a staggering 21% – a remarkable figure, but which could be just the tip of the iceberg in terms of coding-related jobs in the entire tech sector.
The coding revolution
Coding is a central skill across Africa: in 2019, the continent had a population of 690K developers. If this community continues to grow in line with our overall population (predicted to reach 2.5B people by 2050), then Africa has the potential to become one of the largest producers of coders in the world. Africa has also been growing in terms of its global economic significance, as its gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4% per year between 2010 and 2019, more than twice that of the EU-28 (1.7%) and Latin America (1.7%) over the same period. Coders have contributed to this sharp rise in no small way. In terms of what this means to Africa’s economy, by 2025 the digital economy has the potential to contribute $180 billion to Africa’s economy.
This has been estimated to grow to as much as $712 billion by 2050. While the global and continental benefits of coding have been highlighted, in many ways, it is the individual coders themselves who have the most to gain from the coding revolution. Many developers view a career in software development as an avenue for social mobility. More specifically, women comprise one in five of the population of developers in Africa. While this number may still seem low, the growth of this sector has begun to create more opportunities for female coders, especially in Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa.
By Comm’s Office
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