科技公司在非洲挖掘和培训软件开发人员

AS IT IS 2016-07-17 Company Finds, Trains Technology Workers in Africa 科技公司在非洲挖掘和培训软件开发人员

A new Nigerian technology company plans to produce some of the best software developers in the world.

The company is based in Lagos. It is called Andela. It performs work for large companies, most of which are in the United States. At the same time, it trains software developers. The training period is four years. During that time, Andela teaches workers programming languages and skills.

“Our goal is to basically train 100,000 software developers who are world class, in Africa, over the next 10 years,” said Seni Sulyman. He is the company’s director of operations.

Sulyman says after the developers train at Andela, they can work for major tech companies such as IBM and Microsoft.

Recently, several groups showed their support for Andela by investing $24 million in the company.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative¹ was one of the investors². That group -- created by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan -- issued a statement praising Andela. The statement said Andela’s “innovative model of learning” was one of the reasons the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative invested in the company.

Others have also praised Andela for providing high-quality training. Bankole Oluwafemi is the editor of a technology news website. He said Andela is different from other technology companies in Africa because it focuses on education.

“Andela is kind of like, attack that problem, and they’re kind of like, unique in that they’re one of the first, if not the first, to attack that problem at scale, the problem of education,” he said.

Seni Sulyman says the company hopes to use the money it recently received to increase the number of workers it recruits³.

Andela hires only about 12 new people every three months. It chooses them from about 3,000 to 5,000 applications.

Sulyman said Andela would also like to find more companies to complete projects for, and to expand into a third country in Africa. Andela now works in Nigeria and Kenya.

Sulyman noted⁴ the recent investment of $24 million seems like a lot of money. But, he said, Andela has so many things it wants to do that he’s sure the company will figure out ways to spend it.

Words in This Story

world class – adj. among the best in the world

focus – v. to direct your attention or effort at something specific (often + on)

scale – n. the size or level of something especially in comparison to something else

hire – v. to give work or a job to (someone) in exchange for wages or a salary (chiefly US)

1 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 recruits   

新兵( recruit的名词复数 )； （机构中的）新成员； 就业； 人才开发

参考例句：

• A corps of doctors arrived to inoculate the recruits. 一队医生来给新兵打防疫针。
• The recruits are exercised every day in the art of self-defence. 新兵每天训练自卫技能。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。