Moniepoint Inc. has graduated the second cohort of its DreamDevs Bootcamp, deepening its investment in homegrown engineering talent as Nigeria’s fintech sector grapples with a growing shortage of skilled software developers needed to sustain Africa’s digital economy.
The financial technology company said the programme is designed to address the widening gap between demand for experienced software engineers and the available talent pool.
At a Demo Day event in Lagos themed “Training Done! Demo Up!”, participants showcased capstone projects built to industry standards after completing an intensive nine-week training programme covering software engineering, system design, cloud infrastructure, application programming interfaces (APIs), software testing, data structures, algorithms and frontend development.
The graduates, working in nine teams, presented practical solutions targeting sectors including healthcare, agriculture, real estate, food services and event management, demonstrating how technology skills can be applied to solve real-world business and social challenges.
The programme comes as technology companies across Africa increasingly compete for engineering talent amid rapid digitalisation and growing investor interest in the continent’s fintech ecosystem.
Industry estimates suggest that the global shortage of software developers could reach 85 million by 2030, potentially resulting in economic losses of about $5.5 trillion. For African markets, where digital infrastructure is still developing, the shortage poses a significant risk to innovation, product development and long-term competitiveness.
Speaking at the event, Felix Ike, Moniepoint co-founder and chief technology officer, described DreamDevs as a long-term investment in Nigeria’s digital economy rather than a recruitment programme.
“DreamDevs is a structural investment in Nigeria’s digital economy, not a recruitment exercise, not a pipeline built solely to serve Moniepoint’s hiring needs,” he said.
He noted, however, that some graduates from the first cohort have already joined Moniepoint’s engineering team, demonstrating the programme’s ability to produce talent capable of operating in highly demanding technology environments.
According to Ike, engineering excellence requires deliberate investment in systems, mentorship and practical exposure rather than relying solely on academic training.
“Building that process and making it accessible to the brightest young engineers on this continent is a responsibility we have chosen to own,” he added.
The bootcamp was developed by Moniepoint’s engineering unit in partnership with Semicolon, a technology training institution. Participants received stipends and mentorship from Moniepoint engineers while gaining exposure to the company’s production environment and software development processes.
The initiative reflects a broader shift among African fintech companies, which are increasingly investing in talent development as a strategic necessity rather than leaving workforce training entirely to universities and external institutions.
As digital payments, lending, embedded finance and enterprise technology services expand across the continent, the availability of highly skilled engineers has become a critical factor in determining which companies can scale successfully.
Africa’s technology ecosystem has attracted significant global capital over the past decade, but investments in technical talent development have not kept pace with the industry’s growth ambitions. This has led to fierce competition for experienced developers, higher recruitment costs and increased dependence on foreign expertise.
Moniepoint’s approach appears aimed at tackling the problem from the supply side by creating a structured pathway that develops engineers from foundational skills to industry readiness.
The programme also complements the Federal Government’s ongoing 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) initiative, where Moniepoint serves as a key sponsor. While the national programme focuses on training large numbers of technology professionals, DreamDevs seeks to provide specialised engineering depth and practical experience.
Read also: Moniepoint targets 500-developer-per-year expansion model with new university hubs
The company’s growing focus on talent development underscores a wider reality confronting Africa’s digital economy: infrastructure alone will not drive the next phase of growth. The continent’s ability to build competitive technology companies will depend largely on whether it can produce enough highly skilled engineers to design, maintain and scale digital platforms.
For Moniepoint, one of Africa’s fastest-growing fintech firms, the answer appears to lie not only in building products, but also in building the people who will create the next generation of them.
As Nigerian fintech companies expand into new markets and deepen their infrastructure ambitions, industry observers say initiatives like DreamDevs could become increasingly important in reducing Africa’s engineering talent deficit and ensuring that the continent’s digital transformation is powered by locally developed expertise rather than imported skills.
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