Nigerian companies are now competing with foreign companies for tech talent, they need to step up.
Gone are the days when Nigerian tech talent was recruited primarily by Nigerian companies. Now, Nigerian talent is being recruited by companies from all over the world. This has given rise to a situation where Nigerian tech companies are finding it hard to recruit and keep talented tech workers. This is despite the fact that the Nigerian tech ecosystem has witnessed in recent years, a high influx of international interest and investment.
With a youth population of over 95 million and a host of companies dedicated to teaching tech skills, it is no surprise that Nigeria has, in recent years, become an exporter of tech talent. According to reports, companies in the United Kingdom are facing shortages of tech workers, a problem that was further exacerbated by post-Brexit immigration controls. A similar scenario can be found ongoing in the United States, with reports of shortages dating as far back as a decade ago. According to a 2020 survey of Global CEOs by PwC, 74% of CEOs in the survey had concerns over shortage of tech talent.
With the occurrence of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, a lot of companies were forced to reassess their processes and services and find ways to keep business running through the pandemic, a feat that was achievable only via rapid digital transformations as well as utilization of resilient IT infrastructure. This situation has led to even more demand for tech workers. With these countries unable to fill the required roles with homegrown talents, they are naturally looking to developing countries where digital skills have started to gain a foothold. A brief search of the internet will yield news articles that are agog with information about the ongoing tech talent war. It is no surprise that Nigerian tech workers are high in demand all over the world.
On the home front in Nigeria, there are several factors necessitating the immigration of tech talent from Nigeria to saner climes. Chief among them is the high rate of extortion and injustice meted out to young people by members of the police force in Nigeria. Way before citizens took to the streets to protest illegal arrests and extrajudicial killings by lawless policemen in 2020, tech workers have been repeatedly targeted and harassed by these unscrupulous elements of the force. Their major technique consisted of labelling anybody moving with a laptop as a fraudster aka yahoo boy and then harassing such people, extorting them where possible and detaining them where it wasn’t possible to extort them. In a country where such heinous acts are perpetrated daily by gun wielding, trigger happy law enforcement officers, it is no wonder why tech workers are choosing to work for companies that can help them relocate to saner countries where their human rights and dignity are respected.
It however goes beyond escaping the daily violence that the average Nigerian is subject to in this country. In developed countries, the economy is bigger, better, there are more employment opportunities, with better pay and most importantly, a currency that is actually worth working to earn. Pair this with the current wage inflation sweeping across the tech sector in these countries and companies that work hard to retain top talent, that is an unbeatable offer. If these companies do not come calling on Nigerian tech talent, the talent will go looking. This is evidenced by the emergence of online platforms where tech talents can be connected to recruiters from all over the world. Given these factors, the average Nigerian tech talent is not looking to secure a job with another Nigerian company, they are looking to secure jobs with international companies. And Nigerian companies must realize this and adjust accordingly.
The time has passed when tech talent was treated poorly because they had nowhere to take their business. They have options now and are exploring those options, so Nigerian companies need to step up if they plan on retaining their talents. They need to begin treating tech talent like the assets that they are, pay them livable wages, give them the creative freedom they need to work efficiently, stop discriminating against them for being “cash cows”. And most importantly, companies in Nigeria need to stand up for their tech workers. They need to stop paying lip service to the fight against injustice, they need to rise up and say, enough of extorting our staff, enough of brutalizing them, enough of traumatizing them, because if all is not well with them, then nothing can be well with the company and by extension, the economy. Maybe then, Nigerian tech workers will start taking joy in working for Nigerian companies again.
Lawrence Otu is a Product Manager and Blockchain enthusiast. He can be reached on lawrenceotub@gmail.com
