PyCon Namibia is more than a traditional tech event. Yes, there are keynotes, workshops and community booths — but there’s also something deeper… a mission to build a thriving developer ecosystem on the African continent, starting with education and access.
More Than a Conference: A Mission for the Next Generation
What sets PyCon Namibia apart is the Education Days. These aren’t side events — they’re a core part of the experience. Before the main conference begins, attendees are invited to join two days focused entirely on outreach.
On the first day, we visited NAST (Namibia University of Science and Technology), where students gathered to hear about life in the tech industry. While we didn’t speak ourselves that day, it was powerful to connect with students and hear their questions. One standout talk came from our friend Daniele — a longtime developer and Ubuntu contributor — who spoke about representation in technology and media. His point: when tools are tested and built around white subjects, they often fail people of color — whether in film, medicine or AI. The students were completely dialed in. You could tell it hit home.
The second Education Day brought us to the Jakob Marengo Secondary School in Katutura, a township on the outskirts of Windhoek. There, we ran workshops with local kids — many of whom had never used a personal computer before. We introduced them to programmable microcontrollers — small devices with screens, sensors and speakers — and guided them through their first lines of Python code, like lighting LEDs, playing sounds and using the device’s compass and microphone.
One of the highlights of the conference for us was running a workshop called “Teach Your GPT Python”, where we walked participants through how to build a basic AI agent using the OpenAI API. For many attendees — including both university students from NAST and some of the high schoolers we’d met during Education Days — it was their very first hands-on experience with large language models beyond the typical chatbot interface.
Despite a few hiccups with infrastructure (some internet services we needed didn’t work in Namibia — a reminder that the internet isn’t always globally inclusive), the workshop turned out to be a real success. People were fully engaged, asking questions, experimenting with prompts and sharing their results. We even had developers travel from other countries — including Nigeria — just to attend.
The enthusiasm was so strong that when the session ran long, people chose to skip lunch to keep learning. As workshop hosts, we couldn’t have asked for a better response. We've taught in different environments before, but the energy here was truly next level. People were curious about tech, but they also wanted to know about us, our lives and how we got into the field. It wasn’t just a class. It was a conversation.
Namibia’s Growing Tech Scene
Namibia is a small country — just over 3 million people — and its tech ecosystem is still developing. Compared to regional hubs like Nigeria, Kenya or South Africa, the scene is modest, but it’s growing. Hackathons are beginning to pop up, bootcamps are gaining traction, and open-source communities are emerging — driven by a generation eager to leapfrog into the digital economy.
Daniele (who is also one of PyCon’s key organizers) has made it his mission to move the needle. He’s pushing for African talent to be hired not just locally, but internationally in Europe and beyond — and he’s right. The time zones align. Many Africans speak European languages. And the impact? Massive. As he told us, “Hiring a developer in Europe changes one life. Hiring a developer in Africa can uplift a whole village.”
That perspective is definitely something that stuck with us.
From City Streets to Desert Roads
After the conference, we spent over a week traveling the beautiful country — reconnecting with old friends, meeting new ones and getting a deeper sense of daily life in Namibia.
One of our stops was Rundu, a fast-growing town in the northeast near the Angolan border. We stayed with our friend Aaron’s extended family, who welcomed us with open arms (and an impressive amount of food). We explored local markets, the banks of the Okavango River and a wide range of bars — some polished and trendy, others gritty and overflowing with character.
We later took a road trip westward, camping under the stars, driving across desert roads, spotting elephants and giraffes and waking up to the sounds of the wildlife in the morning.
And while we didn’t expect it, we also found a surprising cultural overlap: beer. As a Czech and someone who’s lived in Czechia for years, we bonded quickly with locals over their love for brewing and socializing around a pint. Namibia may not be the first country that comes to mind when you think of beer culture, but it’s there — and it gave us yet another unexpected point of connection.
Overall, what we’ll remember the most is the people. The warmth. The openness.You can start a conversation with anyone on the street and end up eating lunch in a kitchen with their grandmother. That doesn’t typically happen where either one of us are from. And it opened our eyes to a beautiful new perspective.
What We Took With Us
This trip reminded us why we got into tech in the first place — and why it matters. It’s easy to take things like laptops or internet access for granted, but for many young people in Namibia, those are privileges, not guarantees.
Still, the thirst for knowledge? It's already there. And when paired with tools like open-source platforms, affordable hardware and global mentorship, it can unlock world-class talent. It reminded us how low the barrier to entry in tech can be — a laptop, internet connection and motivation is often all it takes. But only if access is there.
For us, in the end, this was more than a work trip. It was a lesson in empathy, connection and how tech — when shared — can become a real force for change.
And yes… we can’t wait to go back.
