Africa-based coding accelerator company Andela has launched operations in Egypt, which has become its first fully remote working centre on the continent.

Launched in Nigeria but also active in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, Andela was formed to solve the global technical talent shortage by building distributed engineering teams with African software developers.

The company is one of the continent's most capitalised, taking its total raised funding to US$180-million with a US$100-million Series D round in January of this year, but in September announced hundreds of layoffs as it restructured its business model to focus on senior developers as opposed to junior ones.

In spite of that, it is pushing ahead with expansion across the continent, and having started exploring operations in Egypt in 2018 it has now launched formally and hired over 80 top engineers from Cairo, Alexandria, Damnhour, Port Saeed and Mansoura.

As part of the launch, Andela has signed an agreement with Egypt's Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) that will see the agency support the company's efforts to select and invest in at least 200 of the top software engineers in Egypt.

Those engineers will have the chance to work with some of the leading technology companies in the world without having to leave Egypt, as Andela runs on a remote working model.

"Andela builds world-class engineering teams, and we are excited to be enhancing our talent pool as we expand into Egypt. We've been impressed by the incredible engineering talent we've seen so far across the country, and we're excited to help raise the profile of Egypt's tech ecosystem on the global stage," said Andela chief executive officer Jeremy Johnson.

ITIDA chief executive officer Engineer Hala El Gohary said the organisation was pleased to be working closely with Andela to continue to invest in Africa's most talented software developers.

"So, we are happy with the company's decision to invest in Egypt where it gets access to a rich talent pool and enjoys geographic proximity to international markets that perfectly fits the engineering-as-a-service business and would further boost the company's growth."