Sigu Magwa on the Elixir Community in Kenya

Elixir Wizards

We are always excited to have conversations about the growth of the Elixir community, and today we go truly global, welcoming Sigu Magwa to the podcast, who hails from Kenya! Sigu is currently traveling in the US and he fills us in on some of the highs and lows of his trip and why he is so excited to get home to his friends and family. From there, we get into some interesting information about Elixir Kenya and the growth of the meetup over the last couple of years. Sigu shares some insight into IoT in his country and what the general tech space is like right now over there, before opening up about his journey into programming and how he found his way into working with Elixir. We also get to talk about his company, Podii, and their first few years working with clients. Apart from all the tech talk, Sigu is kind enough to shed some light on Kenya's matatu buses, and what makes them so unique, a subject that was particularly captivating to our panel! Listeners can also expect to hear about the recent ElixirConf Africa, Sigu's thoughts on hiring young talent, and what he hopes to see in the next decade within the community. So to catch it all, be sure to listen in with us on Elixir Wizards!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Sigu's trip to the US and the sights he has been seeing in different cities.
• Some information from Sigu about the Elixir Kenya meetup and the community there.
• Sigu's experiences with IoT technology in Kenya and its adoption.
  
• The elevator pitch for Sigu's company, Podii, and its roots in training.
  
• Podii's current operation and company size and some of the projects they have worked on thus far.
• The coding language trends in Kenya; Sigu weighs in on what he has noticed.
  
• Sigu's history in the programming space and how he made his way into the world of tech.
  
• How 'matatu' buses operate in Kenya; TVs, celebrity portraits, strobe lights, and high speeds!
  
• The ElixirConf Africa that was hosted this year and Sigu's experience of being involved.
• Sigu's hopes for the Elixir community for the next ten years!
• Approaches for identifying talented young Elixir developers.
• How and where to connect with Sigu online and final remarks from our guest.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

SmartLogic — https://smartlogic.io/
Sigu Magwa on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sigu/?originalSubdomain=ke
Sigu Magwa on Twitter — https://twitter.com/s_igu
Podii — https://podiihq.com/
Nerves — https://www.nerves-project.org/platform.html
ElixirConf Africa — https://elixirconf.africa/
QuadBlockQuiz — http://quadblockquiz.org:4000/
Matatu Bus — https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2018/apr/27/a-minibus-ride-like-no-other-nairobis-matatu-culture-in-pictures
Hire Junior Engineers — https://smartlogic.io/blog/hire-junior-engineers/
Teach Yourself Computer Science — https://teachyourselfcs.com/
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs — https://www.amazon.com/Structure-Interpretation-Computer-Programs-Engineering/dp/0262510871
Elixir Wizards Discord — https://discord.com/invite/JGcqSaYf2a

Special Guest: Sigu Magwa.