Android developers in Nigeria, Kenya earned $700m in 2023 – Report

Nigerian, Kenyan and South African Android developers were part of the larger Sub-Saharan African developer community that earned about $700m from the Android app in 2023, Google said.

According to its report, titled “The Digital Opportunity of Sub-Saharan Africa,” obtained on Monday, the technology multinational revealed that the Android developer ecosystem supported over 150,000 jobs across the region.

According to Google, Android has streamlined development processes in Sub-Saharan Africa, saving developers over 1.5 million days in production time.

The region’s developers leveraged the vast global audience of the Google Play Store, which serves 2.5 billion users worldwide and facilitates over 140 billion downloads annually.

This exposure, according to the company, enables Sub-Saharan African developers to scale their apps globally, tapping into unprecedented growth opportunities.

“In total, we estimate the Android App Economy generated over $700m in revenue for developers in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, while the Android developer ecosystem is supporting over 150,000 jobs across the region,” the report noted.

According to the tech giant, Sub-Saharan Africa’s developer landscape is characterised by a dynamic and young talent pool, comprising more than 500,000 professionals.

It stated that South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya each boasted over 50,000 developers, contributing to the region’s thriving tech ecosystem.

The expertise fuelled the success of prominent startups like Flutterwave, Chipper, and Paystack, spearheading innovation across the continent, the search engine giant noted.

“Many of these developers, in turn, create apps and services that are distributed through Google’s mobile platform. Android, a free and open mobile operating system developed by Google, enables local developers to reach a broad audience rather than having to continue to develop new versions of their applications for different devices,” it highlighted.

Google noted that its impact in Sub-Saharan Africa extended beyond empowering developers.

In 2023, 6.4 million young adults acquired new digital skills via Google Search, contributing an estimated $7.8bn to the region’s economic growth, the company said.

Through programmes like Google Developer Groups, Google Developer Experts, and Grow with Google Developer initiatives, 94,000 individuals received training between 2020 and 2023.