By Juliet Umeh

As the world faces a projected shortage of 85 million software developers by 2030, with potential economic losses estimated at $5.5 trillion, digital financial services provider Moniepoint has intensified efforts to build Africa’s next generation of engineering talent through its DreamDevs Bootcamp.

The company recently graduated the second cohort of the programme, a talent development initiative designed to equip young Nigerians with industry-relevant software engineering skills and help bridge the growing gap between demand and supply of skilled technology professionals.

The graduation ceremony, held in Lagos under the theme, “Training Done! Demo Up!”, featured participants showcasing capstone projects addressing real-world challenges across sectors including healthcare, real estate, agriculture, food services and event management.

The bootcamp, developed by Moniepoint’s Engineering Unit in partnership with Semicolon, provided participants with nine weeks of intensive training in Java Object-Oriented Programming, Data Structures and Algorithms, Software Testing, MySQL, Spring Boot APIs, System Design, Docker, Messaging Queues, Frontend User Interface development and Cloud Infrastructure.

Participants also received stipends and mentorship from Moniepoint engineers, gaining practical exposure to software development processes within one of Africa’s fastest-growing fintech companies.

Speaking at the event, Moniepoint Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer, Felix Ike, said addressing the talent shortage requires deliberate investment in developing local engineering capacity.

According to him, “DreamDevs is a structural investment in Nigeria’s digital economy, not a recruitment exercise and not a pipeline built solely to serve Moniepoint’s hiring needs.”

He added: “We are proud that some graduates from our first cohort are already active members of our engineering team. This proves that when young African engineers are given the right training and environment, they can compete at the highest level.”

Ike noted that engineering excellence does not happen by chance but requires sustained investment in systems, mentorship, resources and time.

He further explained that the initiative complements broader national efforts to develop digital skills, including the Federal Government’s 3 Million Technical Talent, 3MTT, programme.

“While 3MTT addresses the challenge of scale, DreamDevs provides depth by creating a specialised pathway from foundational training to employment opportunities within a real-world engineering ecosystem,” he said.

Moniepoint said the programme forms part of its broader strategy to address Africa’s engineering talent gap and strengthen the human capital needed to support the continent’s expanding digital economy and infrastructure ambitions.