Add / Remove One of the most effective ways to empower disadvantaged young people is to give them access to the same educational resources that are available in the developed world. Which is exactly what Andela is doing — the global talent accelerator provides paid training and mentorship to promising young people in Africa, before linking them up with companies around the world in need of remote developers. Students can apply for a place on the four year paid fellowship at Andela’s campus in Lagos, Nigeria. They attend a free, two week boot camp which involves a rigourous screening process. Less than one percent of applicants are successful, but those who are then proceed to undertake full time training for three to five months. As software developer trainees they receive at least 1,000 hours of hands-on training in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and other front-end and back-end technologies. Once students have enough coding experience they begin working as a remote developer for any number of global tech companies. After their four year commitment is complete they can either remain on Andela’s books or apply for a job elsewhere using the experience, portfolio and references they have earnt during the fellowship. Companies in need of developers can employ Andela developers at roughly half the cost of comparable workers elsewhere, in the knowledge that they are still being fairly recompensed. They work within the companies business hours and are supported by senior Andela developers. Andela, which is based in New York, gives promising young people in Africa a chance to earn a living in a rapidly growing industry without requiring them to leave their country — and in doing so helps to improve the local economy. Could this scheme work elsewhere? Website: www.andela.co Contact: www.twitter.com/andela

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In Africa, promising students are paid to become remote software developers

Add / Remove This is part of a series of articles that looks at entrepreneurs hoping to get their ideas off the ground through crowdfunding. At the time of writing, each of these innovations is currently seeking funding. A shocking 146 billion coffee cups are discarded annually in America alone, and since most of those cups have a polyethylene lining, they can’t be recycled. It’s no wonder that we’ve seen initiatives such as Keep Cup and Good to Go looking to cut paper waste through reusable cups that can be bought or even rented. Now, Reduce. Reuse. Grow have developed another eco-friendly option in the Plantable Coffee Cup — a 100 percent biodegradable cup with native seeds embedded in its material, meaning it can be planted after use to help with local reforestation. The Plantable Coffee Cup is made from recycled paper, sourced from local recycling centres in California. It has native seeds embedded within the material and a description of the seed variety and planting instructions printed on the cup. After using, the consumer can choose to plant the cup within their community to enhance their local urban and rural landscapes. They simply unravel the cup and soak it in water for five minutes before planting. Alternatively, it can be disposed of safely and it will biodegrade within 180 days, releasing its nutrients for other plants to enjoy. Each cup costs USD 0.02 to produce, which is the same as a standard biodegradable cup, and USD 0.01 more than a Solo cup. Reduce. Reuse. Grow hope to supply their product to eco-conscious coffee shops around the world, but they are currently concentrating on their home state of California. They will provide special trash cans to participating stores so that they — or third parties such as landscape companies or non profits — can collect used cups for reforestation purposes. The Plantable Coffee Cup is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter . Are there other products which could be transformed from waste to nourishment in this way? Website: www.planttrash.com Contact: alexhenige@gmail.com

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Coffee cup embedded with seeds grows into native plants