Life As An African Web Developer

There's an interesting look at the realities of high-tech in Africa running on NewsForge -- specifically, one writer's account of starting a web development company in Ghana, dealing with obstacles including power problems worse than the norm in deepest California.

Comments

Going up?

[Blaine Hilton]

Here in the states the economics of being a programmer or anything in the IT industry is pretty bad, but from the article it seems Africa is much worse. We take most of their problems for granted here. I think this is a large problem for Americans, we don't really realize how good we have. The same thing can be said for gasoline, in Europe they are paying double, triple or more then what we are paying, even when we think its so "expensive".

I do believe there is a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel though for the Internet economy through out the whole world. We are coming to the point where computers are as common as televisions, and a computer really isn't a computer with out being able to access the Internet. This is going to redefine what we now know as a global economy. Borders are going to become looser, and ideas will be freely exchanged. Another thing is since the .dom crash many people have decided to switch careers, and thus the workflow is going to equalize, and I believe that is going to happen sooner rather then later.

Go calculate something.

Re:Going up?

[@madeus]

Here in the states the economics of being a programmer or anything in the IT industry is pretty bad, but from the article it seems Africa is much worse. We take most of their problems for granted here. I think this is a large problem for Americans, we don't really realize how good we have. The same thing can be said for gasoline, in Europe they are paying double, triple or more then what we are paying, even when we think its so "expensive".

While I quite agree with the rest of this paragraph I take strong issue with your opening sentence.

Specifically with:

Here in the states the economics of being a programmer or anything in the IT industry is pretty bad

Workers in the IT industry are still earning above the national average, for a job that's really not that demanding (your actual milage may vary of course, but by and large it's not that taxing if you know what your doing).

I think the IT industry is a great one to be in - certainly as far a salarys & formal prerequisites to employment go, especially for a job that requires almost zero physical labour and has almost endless scope for career development (by which I mean there are so many roles you could do you couldn't possibly hope to do them all in one lifetime).

The only problem this sector ever had was the influx of mid 90's 'get rich quick' lusers turned sysadmins/developers/web designers who wouldn't know a clue-by-four if they were larted on the head with it.

Most of them are still unemployed now, but if your a *real* sysadmin/developer/etc - and your reasonably flexible - then your simply not going to be unemployed for huge length of time (>6 months) unless you live in an area where there is amazingly stiff competion (like say, the bay area).

Re:Going up?

[stinky wizzleteats]

Let's have a history lesson...

One is drinking water. Another is AIDS. Civil war is also quite common.

Poor sanitation, disease, and civil war. United States, late 19th century. What did we do to overcome these problems? Did an international outreach of concerned Europeans build sewers and hospitals for us? Did English peacekeepers prevent the savagery of our civil war?

As evidenced by this statement: "...is rather offensive, in my opinion.", you clearly intend for the reader to assume responsibility for the conditions of those living in -insert impoverished country here- when history clearly demonstrates that such concern is idiotically ill-conceived. If the concern you are offended that we don't have cannot make the changes you would intend, then what possible good can come of those purposes in the first place, except to shock and paralyze soccer moms into believing that they can't walk outside without harming the world in some way?

What got us out of the squalor and suffering of our early days is the same thing that can get them out - the personal struggle to overcome. And if you wake up in the morning, and find reason not to pursue excellence because people in Africa don't have clean drinking water, then you, sir, offend me.

Re:Going up?

[HanzoSan]

The US created their own Civil War, the Africans were given chaos by European invaders in the same way Iraq was given Chaos/.

Software Programmers in Ghana...

[timjones]

And you thought we had competition from steaming legions of Indian and Chinese programmers?

Most of the executive set I know (yes, in the USA) wouldn't consider buying an AUTOMOBILE from a third-world country like that, but they will do anything to have IT design (at least as complicated, when done properly) done in such places.

Something to think about...