2018: State of the forloopAfrica Report

Metrics Everywhere. Needed for Efforts Optimization. Better Potential Realization.

The goal of forloop especially at its creation by the legendary Ridwan Olalere (Didi Kwang) in 2016 is simple: Build an inclusive, engaging and vibrant community of developers across Africa.

“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.” — Herman Melville

forloop Africa is a community of passionate software developers and enthusiasts across Africa. 2 years after, we have developed a presence in 8 African countries, built a Slack community of over 2,500 folks and held several developer events to foster collaboration amongst developers in Africa.

This is the first state of the forloop Africa report we’re publishing. And the purpose of making this public is to let the world know the growth process of this community and show key metrics that can drive the adoption of forloop in every country in Africa.

forloop Newsletter

The forloop Newsletter is a weekly newsletter that keeps everyone up to date about software development activities happening within the African developer community and beyond. It features meetups, conferences, job listings, tutorials, released APIs, informative twitter threads, e.t.c

• 94 newsletters
• 4083 subscribers
• Regular openings: Nigeria, USA, UK, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Germany, Canada, and Rwanda.

Most reads newsletter this year: https://mailchi.mp/forloop/goglobal-not-another-privacy-policy-update

You should subscribe to the newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/cH9RP9

Thanks to the forloop Newsletter Lead for an all year commitment and dedication: Solomon Osadolo

Thanks to Jennifer Onwudiwe for writing the newsletter since April, 2018.

forloop Podcast

Popularly known as forloop Pod, the forloop podcast is one that includes technical talks, tech reviews and personality interviews from people on their software development or design journey in Africa and across the globe.

• 7 episodes
• Channels Available: iTunes, Apple podcast, Spotify, Google podcast, Podbean, Castbox, Pocket cast, Overcast, Podcast addict, and Podcast republic.
• Offline downloads: 2617

Thanks to the supersonic Ada Nduka Oyom for her leadership on making sure forloop Pod runs smoothly.

forloop Countries

forloop Rwanda

• 3 meetups
• > 220 attendees

Thanks to forloop Rwanda Lead: Remy Muhire

forloop Uganda

• 5 meetups
• > 200 attendees

Thanks to forloop Uganda Lead: Solomon Kitumba

forloop Zambia (Established this year)

• 4 meetups (1 hackathon included)
• 170 total attendees
• Must-Reads:

forloop Zambia Maiden Launch

The launch of forloop Zambia

forLoop Zambia Launch: An Amazing Run down

Building the right way at forloop Zambia

How to grow within a tech community as a Software Developer

Thanks to the forloop Zambia Leads: Olivier J.M, Wilfred Mulenga, Sambwah Chipungu for their dogged attitude in explosively blowing up the technology scene in Zambia.

forloop Tanzania

• 1 meetup
• 70 attendees

Thanks to forloop Tanzania Lead: Joshua Mabina

forloop Sierra Leone

• 1 meetup
• 25 attendees

Thanks to forloop Sierra Leone Lead: Cleopatra Douglas

forloop Ghana

• 3 meetups
• 1 hackathon held in University of Ghana
• 25 attendees
• Must-reads:

forLoopGhana : Building for Tomorrow, Today!

forLoopGhana Recap : Building the “right” way

Thanks to forloop Ghana Lead: Oreoluwa Ogundipe

forloop Nigeria

forloop Asaba: 1 meetup, 150 attendees. Lead: Ehinze Emeka

forloop Abuja: 4 meetups, > 170 total attendees, Lead: David Kezi

forloop Ilorin: 1 meetup, +86 attendees, Lead: Mohammed Abiola.

forloop Ibadan: 2 meetups, ~102 attendees, Lead: Biodun Chris

forloop Calabar: 1 meetup, 50 attendees. Lead: Paul Ayuk.

forloop Abeokuta: 1 meetup, 150 attendees, Lead: Oluwatobi Akinpelu.

forloop Owerri: 1 meetup, Lead: Ebuka Bernard Ezeh

forloop Warri: 1 meetup, Lead: Paul Okoro.

Software Development: Progressing from Average to World class

forloop Kano: 1 meetup, Lead: Enovate Lab.

forloop PortHarcourt: 1 meetup, 133 attendees, Lead: Phillip Obiorah

forloop Campus

We started a forloop campus initiative to reach out to undergraduate students. There’s always a huge gap between undergrads and working class folks, so forloop campuses aims to bridge the gap. This year, we had the following:

forloop UNN

• 1 meetup
• Lead: Njoku Ugochukwu Godson

forloop Uniben

• 1 meetup
• 200 attendees
• Leads: Irabor Jordan / Michelle Ugwu

forloop Futa

• 1 meetup
• 75 attendees
• Lead: Fabusuyi Ayodeji

forloop Bells

• 1 meetup
• 150 attendees
• Lead: bombata habeeb

forloop University of Utuoke

• 1 meetup
• 200 attendees
• Leads: Blessing Krofegha / Etotaziba Olei

forloop Crutech

• 1 meetup
• 60 attendees
• Leads: ThankGod Egbo / Godswill Okokon

forloop Women

forloop Women was born out of the need to include more women in the developer community. Thanks to Eyitayo Elimi.

1 meetup was held this year.

forloop GoGlobal

This is an online event that helps developers understand what they need to do to work remotely for organizations globally or relocate.

2 events held this year: Thanks to the leadership of Funsho

1. https://youtu.be/tcXwv6fyboc
2. https://youtu.be/kjwlQ6IpHKo

Throughout the year, we had several sponsors: Africa’s Talking, Andela, Cloudinary, Flutterwave, Gigalayer, Google, Bongo Hive, Hotels.ng, and Scotch.io.

forloop Slack

We have an active Slack community of 2,506 members. You can join here:

Thanks to the incredible leadership of our board of trustees: Mustapha Garba, Christian Nwamba, Ridwan Olalere (Didi Kwang), Ire Aderinokun, Yomi Osamiluyi, Fatai Salami Phatye, and Graham of Africa’s Talking Ltd.

Thanks to Emmanuel Okanlawon (SOLAR) for his indefatigable efforts in maintaining our impressive social media presence. This man works magic behind the scenes!

Thanks to every single person that has contributed to the growth of forloop. I’m indeed grateful for all your efforts in building this community.

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” — Mother Teresa

2019: What’s the Plan?

We plan to expand to 10 more countries. Starting with Morocco, Zimbabwe and South Africa in Q1.

We also plan to beef up activities and set up impactful programs in all the cities and countries forloop Africa has a presence.

Sponsorship

Blood, sweat and funds run this community. The leads that make things happen are not paid for their time, they are just passionate folks that are crazy about developing raw African talent to their full potential.

They need funds to run activities. We need sponsors to pull incredible stunts this year. Send me an email at prosper@forloop.africa if you want to sponsor forloopAfrica, either as an individual or a company.

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it. — Marianne Williamson