Driven by community. Built for impact.
Techies Connect' is a community-driven professional network, association and movement working to transform Cameroon's tech ecosystem. Events, programs, mentoring, entrepreneur support, and advocacy for better industry conditions — all powered by people who believe a stronger ecosystem is built together.
500+ members · 15+ events · 10+ online talks · 10+ projects supported · 3 regions (Yaoundé, Douala, Ngaoundéré).
Context
In 2020, freshly appointed Head of Engineering at Ejara, I had to build our tech team from the ground up. I had studied in Cameroon and spent six years as a software engineer at multiple companies. Yet when it came time to hire locally, I couldn't find the profiles I needed. We had the funding, the working conditions, the career prospects — everything to attract talent. But the talent wasn't visible.
Most of the tech professionals I knew had already left the country.
The challenge
I felt it as a personal failure. We were building what we wanted to become Cameroon's first unicorn, and I couldn't say the team was 100% Cameroonian.
In 2024, conversations with fellow techies revealed the same pattern: we all knew talented people, but there was no platform to discover, connect, and rally each other. The local tech ecosystem was rich — but invisible to itself, and to the companies looking to hire.
The approach
Techies Connect' started as something simple: an informal brunch where local tech professionals could meet, share their work, and discover each other. From that seed, the network grew into a structured set of initiatives:
- TC Brunch — three formats (Classic, Xperience, Conference) where the best connections happen over a good meal.
- The Lab — project incubation: real critique, real milestones, real community pushing builders to ship in public.
- Outreach — campus seminars connecting students directly with the professional ecosystem.
- Mentorship program — pairing experienced professionals with the next generation.
Three principles guide everything:
- Networking first, content second. The point is to walk out with new contacts.
- Local ownership. Each chapter (Douala, Yaoundé, Ngaoundéré…) is led by people on the ground, not centrally programmed.
- Federate, don't compete. We partner with existing tech groups instead of replacing them.
The outcome
"I came to my first TC Brunch as a quiet observer. Six months later I was offered my current role by someone I met there. Techies Connect' didn't sell me anything — it just put me in the right room." — Nadège E., Product Lead
"Three of our last four engineering hires came through Techies Connect'. It's the most credible tech network here — no noise, just people who build." — Audrey M., Talent Lead
"Beyond the career stuff, Techies Connect' is where I actually relax among peers. The tone is serious without being cold. That balance is rare." — Éric N., Software Engineer
Three Cameroonian cities now host chapters, each new one founded by professionals who first attended an event in another city and brought the model home. The Ngaoundéré chapter, launched in 2025 by an attendee who'd been to a Yaoundé mini-conference, was the proof point: the vision is portable, and the community wants to carry it.
We've partnered with major tech events (Bitcoin Conference Africa hackathon track, IWD Women Tech Makers, .NET Conf, Digitize Cameroon by ANTIC), and the network is growing into what will be the largest tech professional community in Cameroon and beyond.
Learnings
Building a community is one thing. Having people believe in it enough to recommend it is another. But having a complete stranger embrace the vision and carry it further than you ever expected? That's the ultimate validation.
The question I've stopped trying to answer is "How do we attract talent to Cameroon?" The new question — and the one Techies Connect' exists to answer — is: "How do we make the talent that's already here visible to itself?"