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South African entrepreneurs should stay at home and solve real challenges, and their solutions will be scalable across the world, according to Arlene Mulder, co-founder of We Think Code.

Disrupt Africa reported in September the We Think Code coding school launched in South Africa in a bid to tackle youth unemployment and answer the ICT skills shortage in the country. The first two-year course kicked off in January this year.

Speaking at the NetProphet conference in Cape Town, Mulder said she does not think South African entrepreneurs will create the next global entertainment fad, but thinks they can play a serious role in solving local and global challenges, and shaping the future.

“I don’t think we’ll create the next SnapChat, Angry Birds, or Candy Crush in South Africa. But we do understand the real challenges, and the real needs,” Mulder said.

“Coding is not the guy in your basement fixing your printer. Coding is the language you can use to design the future,” she said.

Mulder hopes to train 100,000 South Africans in coding, creating employment by answering the shortage of ICT skills in the country.  She asked corporates to “get on board” and invest in the people of South Africa.

According to Mulder, South African entrepreneurs can build solutions to local issues which will resonate worldwide.

“I want to say to the entrepreneurs, stay in South Africa. If you can make it work in South Africa, it can work anywhere.”

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