This week Erik Hersman launched a little side project: JOBS.whiteafrican.com It is as a place to connect freelancers and small teams with gigs and project work in the African tech sphere.

Erik has been getting a number of emails lately asking him to connect people in the US, Europe or large organizations in Africa with local (as in “in-Africa”) talent. They’re usually interested in finding a knowledgeable designer, a good blogger or editor, and has had quite a few people ask him to put them in touch with programmers.

The White African Job Board

At this time, it’s a simple and free place to post jobs for African technology professionals. Looking forward to seeing are opportunities listed specifically for people in Africa. That last bit is important, it’s for African devs, designers and bloggers.

A lot of these might be for short-term gigs and volunteer opportunities, but who knows… It’s a little bit of an experiment for Erik, so no promises on his part . If it proves popular and useful he may keep it around. Oh, he has the final say on what jobs go live too, so be forewarned. Think of Erik as the curator and friendly job board dictator…

Make sure you grab the news feed, so you don’t have to keep going to see what’s new. If you are a potential employer /  have a job or looking to get work  take a look at the tips page – think about how you’ll deal with project scope, as well as how to pay, or be paid.

Real Job Boards Around Africa

There are some real job boards around the continent that are worth keeping in mind. Here are a couple of them (leave links others that I missed in the comments area):

Kazinow
Find a Job in Africa
Job Space – South Africa
Best Jobs - South Africa
Zebra Jobs
Sama Source – Outsourcing to Africa

Further Thoughts on Outsourcing Tech Work to Africa

It’s an encouraging sign that there are a lot of people interested in finding local African talent. What Eric found in his travels, and in talking to technologists around the continent, is that though there are more devs and designers each year, the number of top quality ones available for work are few.

One cautionary piece of advice though… and it pains me to say this. A few of the African developers that I have come across are not time-conscious and they can come across like their client/project is not as important to them as you would find in their counterparts in the West. Of course, this means if you are timely and fulfill your responsibilities you will find clients lined up 10 deep to get to you – you’re a rare commodity.

African developers are quickly going to learn that they’re on the global stage now, and there’s nothing stopping their clients from switching to someone more reliable, even if it’s a country or continent away.

The good news from Bwana Eric though is that of the many devs  that he has met, many are as good as any you’ll find anywhere else in the world. A few of them are on par with the best I’ve come across anywhere.

re-purposed from whiteafrican