A Technological Revolution

Technology is quickly changing the way of life in Africa and the popularity of tech jobs is increasing amongst young graduates looking to earn a living. It is also important to note that coding is no longer something that is reserved for the working class. Lots of children are now being introduced to tech at an early age. As we delve deeper into the digital revolution being technologically savvy (coding included) is slowly becoming a fundamental life skill.

Learning how to program isn’t easy and needs a lot of dedication. Therefore, regardless of your passion, the reality is you’ll probably still end up seeking help from from either informal or formal learning structures.

Online options such as Udemy, Pluralsight, Codementor, Khan Academy, and YouTube tutorials might help you set up a good foundation. But what if you want to register in a formal institution to learn how to program? It so happens that some people excel only when the aspect of a physical learning environment is created.

Here are the top coding schools in Kenya that have distinguished themselves as the national standard where you can learn programming:

Computer Pride

Computer pride which was established in 1990 is among the oldest coding schools in Kenya. Many up and coming professionals in Kenya will admit that they passed through Computer Pride to do ‘computer packages‘ after completing their high school education while waiting to be called to college or university.

This institution offers 11 proficiency courses, 10 diploma/degree programs, 42 technical certification courses and 13 professional development courses. Some of these courses include AutoCAD, TOEFL, CISCO, ORACLE, COMPTIA, ITIL and project management.

Computer Pride is also an authorized testing center for many international institutions including but not limited to:

• Prometic IT
• Prometric Academic
• Pearson Vue (Virtual University Enterprise)
• ICDL – International Computer Driving Licence

It is Intakes are monthly and offers training in C#, Android, Java SE, among others.

Moringa School

Founded by Taiwanese-American entrepreneur Audrey Cheng, Moringa is arguably one of the best multidisciplinary Coding schools in Kenya.

Moringa School offers an online software development prep that is exactly the place you want to begin if you have completed high school and would like to begin your journey towards becoming an elite coder. After this period, then you can choose whether you’d prefer to specialize in:

• Web development
• Android development

If you have passed the prep course or successfully completed a test that the school provides to measure your web development skills, then you can move to the Online Software Development Core course. This is a 15 week course that will develop your understanding of Java, Spark, Android, Python, Django and flask.

Moringa’s reputation is so good that some top brands in Kenya only hire programmers from there. The prep course costs KES 38,500 but the software development Core is little on the expensive side – KES 126,000 but definitely one of the best options on this list.

Muva Academy

Muva Academy is an award-winning mobile application development company in this space and offers high-quality project-based training. The academy offers training in:

• Android apps development
• IOS apps development.
• API Development/ online payment integration services including Mpesa, Pesapal, Visa, CRB, Google Maps e.t.c.

They also offer holistic web development training in Kenya and are especially good in PHP/Laravel and Python/Django.

iLab Africa

iLab Africa was established in 2011 under the Faculty of Information Technology at Strathmore University and would later find its footing as an independent institution in 2017. It has since become a center for education, innovation, entrepreneurship and policy research.

iLab offers a diverse range of academic programs from kids tech camps in coding and robotics, to Master’s of Science in data science and Analytics. In between there are professional courses such as the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and digital Marketing masterclasses.

One thing that makes iLab Africa stand out is that it offers programs and an environment where women/girls in tech can grow. For example the FemTechies program is targeted at providing Career Mentorship and Leadership programs for young women, with special focus on sustainable strategies for building successful careers and businesses in Tech.

Techcamp

Techcamp is a technology company that is a certified partnered with IBM, Python, Microsoft, PostgreSQL and Google Cloud to provide One-On-One Training and exclusive content through structured learning boot camps. Common courses include certificate in Website Development, Digital Marketing Python Programming, PostgreSQL and Bootstrap. This institution focuses mainly on three areas:

• Physical or Virtual Training Bootcamp – This is meant to give you the Practical(Computer) skills of the particular bootcamp. Get step by step guidance on how to write your first program, build your program scripts and deploy the program online..
• E-Learning Journey– They provide exclusive content on Data Science, Data Mining, Machine Learning, Software Development and AI through mobile application. Students receive Free life-time access to all beginner journeys .
• Lifetime Mentorship for our “Campers” – After completion of the practical Bootcamp, you are then added to the “Campers” groups. Here You get to interact with people in the same Career-Path as you and get guidance on how to enhance your Career and Tech-skills.

AFRALTI (African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute)

We must include AFRALTI in out list of top Coding schools in Kenya because of how much the school has to offer. The institution is very keen on Python and networking training. It is also a Pearson Vue authorized center so if you want to study privately and contact them for examination only, they can arrange for this.

Located in Nairobi and Westlands, the college has qualified instructors, who are also professionals working in different fields therefore you can still learn other programming languages if interested. Their curriculum also includes telecommunication engineering such as radio & satellite communication and IT such as ITIL, CISCO, Oracle, Cyber Security and management.

Digikids Strathmore

Starting them young is always a win and Digikids makes sure your kids develop a deep foundation early enough.

Digikids holds fun-filled coding classes for kids at Strathmore University on Saturdays and holidays and could be a good choice if you want your dear ones to build interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) careers.

Their programs target kids and teens between 6-17 years of age and you can even register your son/daughter for introductory robotics lessons.