This July, the Daytona Developers Club embarked on a tour across Africa, hosting events in five cities: Accra, Addis Ababa, Cairo, Lagos, and Nairobi.
The tour brought together over 500 developers, providing a platform for insightful discussions on open source, developer experience, and tooling, while highlighting the potential for growth and innovation in the region.
The enthusiasm and engagement at each event underscored the passion and potential within Africa's developer communities. The tour served as an excellent opportunity to connect with developers on the ground, learn from their experiences, and lay the foundation for future collaborations.
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We were encouraged to see an increased number of contributors and developers joining our Slack community and actively seeking ways to contribute to Daytona's open source projects following the events.
Accra, Ghana
The tour started in Accra, Ghana, where local experts Joseph Lamptey and Rahmat Akintola joined Daytona's Ivan Burazin to discuss Go API instrumentation and open source opportunities. In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, presentations by Mehari Fitihamlak on the Go programming language and Nathan Eshetu on contributing to open source captivated the audience.
Cairo, Egypt
Cairo, Egypt, saw an impressive turnout of over 220 attendees. Yahya ElAraby delivered a keynote on software engineering trends, followed by a panel discussion on open source and AI with Tech Community Leaders Ahmad Alfy and Mohamed Nagy.
Lagos, Nigeria
In Lagos, Nigeria, Opemipo Disu shared insights on building successful open source projects, and Victory Brown explored open source pathways, highlighting the desire for more such events and resources in the region.
Nairobi, Kenya
The tour concluded in Nairobi, Kenya, with presentations by Daniel Denis on Go programming, Roina Ochieng on her open source journey, and Jaafar Mohamed on fintech applications of Go at Fingo Africa.
The diverse range of topics covered during the tour reflected the wide-ranging interests and expertise of Africa's developer community.
We are grateful for the support of our local community partners, including Shadrack Inusah, Daniel Alemu, Mohamed El Arif, Jesse Essang, Paul Tiberius T., and their associates, who were instrumental in organizing these events. Their dedication and hard work were crucial to the success of the tour.
The Africa tour reminded us of the importance of engaging with developers directly, as it is easy to lose sight of the challenges and opportunities they face. The feedback and insights gained from these interactions will be invaluable in shaping our future initiatives and support for the developer community.
As we look ahead, we are excited to continue our journey with the upcoming Developer Club tour in India at the end of August. We remain committed to fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing, and growth within developer communities worldwide.
The success of the Africa tour has reinforced our belief in the power of connecting with developers on the ground and the impact it can have on driving innovation and growth in the tech ecosystem.
All pictures from the Daytona Devs Club's first leg in Africa are available in our Flicker album.
