A new portal, ICTAfrica, has been launched to enable African ICT experts in the Diaspora to get jobs in the continent.
The portal lists existing job opportunities which African in the Diaspora can apply for. The portal aims to reverse the brain drain witnessed in Africa, where the best professionals opt to work in developed countries due to better pay.
One other problem ICTAfrica has found is the difficulty in getting suitable ICT experts for certain jobs in Africa. Professionals working in ICT-developed countries would have more exposure in new technology.
“Most telecommunication opportunities in Africa – including network design, deployment, commissioning, operation and maintenance – are outsourced to foreign companies, especially those from China. This leaves very few opportunities for Africans as technical expertise is flown from overseas, apparently because African employers cannot find African expertise,” the company said.
“We challenge any African employers who have problems identifying suitable ICT talent to share their opportunities on the site,” said Happyson Simbini, one of the founders of ICT Africa.
For ICTAfrica their case lies in the fact that the ICT sector in Africa has seen a lot of growth in the recent past. They cited the 10 marine fibre cables, 2,000 per cent increase in mobile penetration rate since 2000 and improved satellite technology, opening avenues for ICT professionals in the continent.
“With all these developments in ICT in Africa, there is a tremendous amount of demand for technical and entrepreneurial skills to develop complementary networks such as data centres, Internet exchange points, technology parks and many more that can take advantage of all the network developments,” the organisation said.
“So it appears that there is no shortage of ICT opportunities to absorb a large number of Diaspora Africans with ICT related skills.”
