The Future I Am Betting On

The are two things I am betting my future (and business) on.

image: americasmarkets.usatoday.com

1. That C# will still be a dominant programming language for the next 10 years

I strongly believe that the greatest opportunities in the Nigerian tech space (and even non-tech space) are for creators. People who create what others will use, resell and embed into their own products. There are very few creators in Nigeria, everyone is into services and offering their skills for sale. Only very few people are going the hard path of using their skills or acquiring new skills in order to create something remarkable that they can sell rather than put up on their CV. 

In addition to the amazing opportunities that exist for creators (be it writers, producers, indie programmers, ...) the future is brightest for programmers. In all the developed countries, programmers are the ones earning armed robber salaries. They are the equivalent of offshore petroleum engineers working for the biggest oil companies in Nigeria. And as usual, trends like this, that are not music or iPhones or cars or designer bags, take a long time before reaching Nigeria. We are extremely slow to catch up with the high value trends, it is the low value consumption based trends we catch immediately.

So I am forcing myself to become a very good programmer and choosing C# because I can build all kinds of applications with it -- web apps, phone apps, IoT programs, computer programs. office apps, ... That way I get to focus on one major language rather than learn several languages for each platform I want to develop program for. The only other language I will be spending almost same amount of resources learning is JavaScript. With those two languages I am betting that my programming future will be very bright. Luckily, as I am not aiming to use the skills for getting a job I don't have to compete with guys who know 5 to 10 programming languages. And I don't have to worry about companies looking for programmers who know too much. My goal is simple -- to build programs I can sell or embed my other services in.

2. That Data Analysis, BI and Big Data analytics will be huge in Nigeria
Now I am currently making my living of data analysis and Microsoft Excel, but I am already slowly moving into the BI world and keeping an eye on big data analytics. My ultimate goal is to be one of the few companies in Nigeria that will operate in the BI and Big Data analytics world. And it's no small feat to aim for. The BI and especially Big Data Analytics require programming skills and deep technical skills. It's not the Excel based analysis I currently do. Big Data analytics will require learning cloud computing, a program like Python and several deep back-end processes. I don't think there is anyone in Nigeria along that path or any company in Nigeria with a role for such a person. It's very new and most companies are not yet using the technology in their production environment.

Again, I am betting my future on its uptick in Nigeria. And I believe I will be right. It's a lot easier to play in technically advanced field that is not crowded and is growing.