We are trying to change the world- Seni Sulyman of Andela
Seni Sulyman is the Vice President, Global Operations, Andela, a tech company established in 2014 to drive investment in human potential in the field of technology and software development. In this interview with MARKETING EDGE, he explains what the company is about and why it is empowering thousands of Nigerians in the field of technology and software development to create solutions that will solve local and global problems.
Could you tell us about Andela. What’s the company’s focus?
Andela has built an innovative model that supports talented Africans to become software engineers, and then embeds them as remote team members within global technology teams. This achieves two near-term benefits: We provide hands-on experience for African technologists, who learn best-in-class software engineering practices, and also gain confidence as members of the global technology ecosystem. We equip a generation of African technologists, many of whom have already begun to solve local and global problems.
How has the journey been since 2014 when the company started its operations?
The journey has been surreal. While I joined Andela in 2016, just over a year after the company’s launch, I came in at the ground floor and we have since quadrupled in size and expanded our reach. Within these past two years, we have grown to having over 450 employees, moved to our 7th office (which has received a lot of recognition), trained over 2,000 Android developers in partnership with Google (as an effort to help build the local tech ecosystem), raised $81m in funding from both African and global investors, and grown into a movement of individuals who believe strongly in their ability to change their communities, and the world.
Why did Andela choose to focus on Africa?
Andela’s purpose is to create an unprecedented wave of investment in human capital, by proving that brilliance is evenly distributed, and that across the globe, there are millions of superbly talented young people who are eager to prove themselves and create immense value for the world (and also significantly improve their own socio-economic conditions in the process). Our focus on Africa can be attributed directly to the fact that three of Andela’s co-founders are African (Nigerian & Cameroonian), and therefore, already knew what we are now trying to prove to the world – that many of the next generation of global technology leaders already reside in cities across Africa.
What types of engineering work do Andela’s developers undertake?
We work with a variety of customers here and abroad, and our developers work alongside teams at those companies to build technology solutions. Some specific examples are: An end of Life Company which provides a secure, digital archive of all information loved ones would need in the event of someone’s passing. An online real-estate platform that significantly reduces the hassle (and cost) of buying and selling a home. A company that provides a cloud-based payroll, benefits, and human resource management solution for businesses.
What are those things that keeps Andela ahead of competition?
We are highly innovative. Within just four years, we have built one of the cheapest and most effective ways to go from software engineering education, to skill acquisition, to employment and career acceleration. We do all of this while maintaining a culture that rewards Excellence, Passion, Integrity and Collaboration. We also have a lot of fun. As such, our employees consider us the best place to work (we ranked 8th on Jobberman’s 2017 list of top companies to work for in Nigeria). Andelans are value-driven and mission aligned. They understand that their role is crucial to the organization’s success. As such, our employees have a clear sense of what they need to do to help both Andela, and all our partners, succeed. This has allowed us to continue increasing our base of partners.
How would you describe Andela as a workplace? Any incentives or strategies to maintain high employee retention?
We focus on starting off with a very strong mission and purpose. Everyone here knows that we are trying to change in the world. We back that up with our values – around Excellence, Passion, Integrity and Collaboration – which leads to a workplace where there is trust, friendship, learning and self-improvement. We have a non-traditional workplace. People are just expected to do their work with limited supervision. We expect people to know what they’re supposed to do, and seek help when they need it. The level of ownership this creates is incredible. We also pride ourselves in transparency, employee engagement and advocacy, an open door policy and deep respect for one another.
How many applications has Andela received to date?
70,000+.
In terms of gender; what is the ratio of male to female among Andela developers?
The global percentage of women in technology careers is around 7%. At Andela, we have about 20% female developers. We focus a lot on making our organization welcoming to all types of people (afterall, we do believe that brilliance in evenly distributed – across genders, race, nationality, religion, etc). While we are already significantly outperforming global benchmarks, we believe we can do even better. That’s why we organize all-female boot camps, and why many of our employees participate in programs focused on supporting women (such as Tech in Pink).
Obviously, the company would have encountered some challenges. What are they and how do you surmount them?
Our greatest challenges come from the typical costs and challenges of doing business in Nigeria. Issues such as reliable power and access to great real estate (that allows for our growth) are some of the challenges we have encountered. Also, we are affected by issues such as the foreign exchange instability in 2016/2017, fuel scarcity which affects our employees, and other general macro issues in Nigeria.
Where do you see Andela in the next ten years in Nigeria, in particular, and Africa, in general?
I believe that in 10 years, we will see an acceleration of technology development in Nigeria, which will solve many challenges we face, across agriculture, security, healthcare, transportation, housing, education, and in many other industries.
I expect that the tech and business leaders across several organizations driving major societal change in Nigeria will be former Andelans. I envision the executives of many tech and non-tech companies, advisors to our public sector officials, entrepreneurs and change-makers will all have Andela somewhere on their CV. I also believe that Andela will have created opportunities for thousands of young people hired directly by us, and those who we have supported through our learning programs in collaboration with companies like Google and Microsoft. Above all of these, I believe Andela’s success will have sparked a wave of unprecedented investment in human capital development in Nigeria, creating jobs and socioeconomic mobility for millions of Nigerians.
These are the aspects of the future we are creating that make me get up everyday with all the energy in the world.
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