Onome Amuge
Moniepoint Inc, Africa’s largest digital financial services provider, has opened applications for the second cohort of DreamDevs, its graduate engineering programme aimed at addressing the continent’s persistent technology skills gap.
Open to recent graduates across Nigeria, DreamDevs is positioned as a national talent search for early-career software engineers. Only 20 candidates will be admitted into a nine-week intensive boot camp, after which the strongest performers will progress into internships and, potentially, full-time roles at Moniepoint. From the inaugural cohort last year, the company hired four participants;Three as interns and one as a full-time engineer..
The scheme targets graduates in computer science, engineering and related disciplines with basic proficiency in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Participants receive hands-on instruction from senior Moniepoint engineers, with top candidates offered six-month internships and the possibility of permanent employment, subject to performance.
Felix Ike, co-founder and chief technology officer of Moniepoint, said the first cohort demonstrated the depth of Africa’s untapped engineering talent. “With the right training and support, young African engineers can compete globally. This year, we are aiming to convert up to half of the cohort into full-time employees, creating sustainable career pathways that support the digital economy,” he said.
DreamDevs sits within Moniepoint’s broader talent development strategy, which includes HatchDev, a partnership with NITHub, University of Lagos, that trains about 500 developers annually, as well as the company’s Women in Tech programme, now in its fifth year. The initiative also complements Nigeria’s federal government–backed 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, for which Moniepoint is a key sponsor, by providing a more specialised route from training to employment.
According to Ike, the dual focus allows the company to support national skills objectives while meeting its own demand for highly trained engineers. “By combining practical experience with exposure to real product development, we are creating high-impact jobs and contributing to long-term economic growth,” he said.
Alumni point to the programme’s practical orientation as a differentiator. Victor Adepoju, a member of the first cohort and now a backend engineer at Moniepoint, said the training provided strong grounding in cloud technologies, particularly Google Cloud Platform, alongside essential workplace skills such as planning and prioritisation.
Candidates will be assessed on technical aptitude, learning potential and alignment with Moniepoint’s culture. Applications close on January 20 and can be submitted via dreamdevs.moniepoint.com.
What will you leave when you’re gone?