Despite the slowdown in global funding in 2022 affecting VC funding in Africa, Africa’s booming tech scene continues to attract international investors.
According to the report published by Techcrunch, total VC funding in Africa still stood at $3.5 billion in 2023, a 46% drop from 2022.
From fintech startups disrupting financial landscapes to health tech ventures tackling critical medical issues, African entrepreneurs are brimming with ideas.
Software Bugs & hacks – A Growing concerns in the Africa’s budding ecosystems
But amidst this exciting surge, a crucial question lingers: can African companies compete globally if their software applications are riddled with bugs and hacks? Software errors are more than just a minor inconvenience. The increasing reported impact of bugs and hacks due to inadequate Quality Assurance (QA) practices is a growing concern. While the vibrant ecosystem is here to stay, these challenges remain. The costs of software bugs and hacks are not limited to the direct costs associated with software developers fixing the bugs.
These issues have manifested in various ways, negatively impacting users and companies. The loss in productivity because bugs contribute to worker downtime, disruptions, and delays, can be enormous. Financial loss also occurs due to a loss of reputation; buggy software can indicate to clients that you can not produce high-quality products. Bugs can also introduce security risks, which can have a sizeable impact in the form of cyberattacks, data breaches, and financial theft.
According to reports, Cybersecurity incidents result in losses between $3.5 billion and $4 billion in Africa annually. Some notable cases include VBS Mutual Bank(South Africa), Patricia, Flutterwave, and MTN Uganda, which were involved in mobile money fraud, and some digital banks in Nigeria.
Data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) reveals that actual losses to fraud in the financial industry in 2023 stood at 17.7 billion Naira ($11 million).
A third of these issues typically stem from insufficient backend optimisation and QA testing. Acknowledging these challenges, much work and change need to be undertaken, especially in altering the mindset of African founders regarding the prioritisation of quality as a key to successful business rather than viewing it as a threat.
It’s a challenging task because there is a pressing need to push products to market quickly. Still, it’s essential to recognise that this urgency can lead to complexity and result in unusable products.
However, we must buckle up and acknowledge that selling high-quality products and services is how we can compete globally.
The Big Block
Let’s be clear: African tech companies face unique challenges. Limited resources and diverse skill sets can make implementing robust QA practices daunting.
The scarcity of skilled QA professionals, limited resources, and a pervasive “get it done” mentality where speed is prioritised over quality can be very detrimental.
This pressure leads to companies launching products without proper QA or starting the QA process at the last minute before launch, which can be disastrous.
Moreover, the role of QA is often seen merely as a reactive measure, identifying bugs post-development rather than a proactive element of the software development lifecycle. This narrow perception can lead to preventable issues and magnify security risks.
Technical glitches and performance issues have plagued several prominent Nigerian e-commerce and fintech companies.
Several online retailers, for example, have experienced website downtime, slow loading speeds, and payment processing problems, resulting in incorrect billing and order fulfilment during peak sales periods.
Inconsistent coding practices and a lack of emphasis on best practices further worsen these problems, creating software that is difficult to maintain and secure, ultimately leading to a poor user experience.
Limited access to training and professional development stifles the growth of both developers and QA professionals, perpetuating a cycle of rushed development and missed opportunities to enhance product quality.
Building a Culture of Quality is a critical step for African Tech
Despite these challenges, it’s crystal clear we have to solve our own. Building strong development teams with access to training and best practices is paramount. Investing in automated testing procedures can free up valuable developer resources. Most importantly, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and meticulous bug tracking is essential.
‘African tech can only win on quality, not patriotism – Adedeji Olowe”
The African tech sector needs help with quality despite notable successes like Paystack, Getsmarter, Sendwave, Instadeep and others.
To build a culture of quality, we need to prioritise the following;
1. Professional Development & Training:
Providing access to personal development is essential. Global companies excel in this area, which we in the African tech ecosystem often overlook.
Proclaiming a learning budget is one thing; actively using it for professional development is another. Global companies advocate for each development team member to pursue at least one certification annually to ensure continual skill enhancement as part of KPIs. Leaders must champion a culture where quality is seen as an investment, not a barrier to speed.
Educating founders and stakeholders about the long-term benefits of proactive QA, such as reduced costs, improved user experience, and enhanced security, is crucial.
By prioritising quality from the outset, companies can avoid the pitfalls of reactive QA and build products that can compete on the global stage.
2. Upskilling the next generation of Africa’s Tech Talent and its Pipeline:
The focus must begin with building strong development teams and upskilling the talent pipeline. This involves recruiting talented engineers and continuously enhancing their skills through regular internal training and adherence to best coding practices.
A prevalent mentality of ‘anything goes’ and ‘as long as the code works’ undermines quality. Sound engineering is not merely about having great talent; it’s about striving for excellence in every line of code.
3. Enfforcing Mandatory Code Reviews and Best Practices:
Applying best practices, such as mandatory code reviews with at least two approvals before merging to production, is essential.
This fosters collaboration between developers and testers, enabling early bug detection. Imagine catching issues before they become major problems! Also, Mandatory multi-approval code reviews further contribute to this goal, reducing bugs and fostering a deeper sense of code ownership among developers.
This ensures that testing begins at the development stage, simplifying the QA process. Establishing a robust process and ensuring the development team adheres to it is vital, barring exceptional circumstances.
While the need for speed to market drives startups, it is crucial to allow a culture of quality in your software products once you are in the market. Remember, building bug-free applications is a necessity for sustained success.
4. Automation, Transparency & Shift-left Testing:
Startups aiming to enhance their QA processes must prioritise automated testing, which is crucial in the fight for quality.
Automation handles repetitive tasks and regression with exceptional efficiency, which is a key benefit for startups that are usually pushing a lot of releases to production.
The time saved by automation allows QA teams to dedicate their expertise to more complex test scenarios and exploratory testing of the product. Transparency is another pillar of a strong QA culture. Track and communicate critical metrics like defect rates and test coverage.
Monitoring progress through these metrics allows for continuous improvement and identifying areas requiring additional focus. Remember, data is your friend! These standards enhance efficiency and promote maintainability and security, which are the hallmarks of robust software.
For instance, Shift-left testing is gaining traction, emphasising integrating QA earlier in the development lifecycle.
This proactive approach nips bugs before they become costly problems later. Give QA a seat in the development phase to allow for a critical look at flows and patterns that stakeholders might overlook.
Looking forward
The future of African tech is bright. By embracing global standards in software development, African companies can build bug-free applications that can compete on the world stage.
My experience at Storyblok, a global content management system company, has underscored the importance of established standards in software development.
Agile methodologies, where development happens in iterative cycles, allow continuous testing and feedback.
Code review practices, where developers scrutinise each other’s work, ensure adherence to best practices and catch errors early on.
Imagine a thriving African tech ecosystem where innovation is matched by quality and African-built software is synonymous with excellence. This is the future we should all strive for. Let’s get there together.
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MEET THE WRITER
Esther Okafor is a quality assurance engineer with over four years of experience in the fintech industry. She has worked at prominent African fintech companies such as Flutterwave, Renmoney, and Venture Garden Group. Currently, Esther works at Storyblok, a rapidly growing content management system (CMS) used by leading brands like Adidas, Tesla, and Oatly, as well as over 200,000 developers and marketers worldwide to enhance content experiences across various digital platforms.
