Every great tech ecosystem starts the same way: with a room full of curious people who decide that waiting for someone else to build the future is no longer an option.
In Gaborone, that room has been filling up for over a decade.
A community that keeps showing up
Google Developer Group (GDG) Gaborone has been active for more than ten years. In that time it has become one of the places in Botswana where young people go to find their footing in tech. Students from different universities and different walks of life meet here, many for the first time, and discover they belong in this space.
The work doesn’t pause between big events. Every week, there is a Rubber Ducky Thursdays event at various partner locations. Recently it was hosted at the Orange Digital Centre and brought young developers together with local engineers to untangle real problems: the bug that won’t budge, the project that stalled, the idea that needs a push. It’s practical, it’s generous, and it’s built on a simple belief that the best teachers are often the people who solved the same problem last month. And that culture of showing up doesn’t happen in isolation. Behind it is an organizing team, including Daniel Dube and Kesego Tumisang, who give their time and energy to build something bigger than themselves.
The proof is in the room
Over the past two years, more than 500 unique people have joined us at DevFest, and our total reach is far larger once you count the workshops, meetups and community events around it. Last year’s DevFest was a success. We welcomed Google Developer Experts (GDEs) from South Africa and Kenya, and Botswana’s young builders got to learn from people who are shaping technology across the continent and beyond.
This didn’t happen alone. BBD, Technofairy, AlphaDirect, Modisar, IT-IQ, Orange Digital Centre, Africa Code Academy, Udugu Botswana and Spectrum Analytics, among others, have stood with us over the years. Each partnership has turned into something real: a workshop, a mentor, a space, a chance, a reminder of what the future can be.
This year, we’re going further
DevFest 2026 takes place on 31 October, and the theme is “Build, Secure, Scale: Developers and Builders in the Agentic Era.” AI is changing how software is made, who can make it, and how fast. The question for young people in Botswana is whether they will be shaping that shift or watching it from the sidelines. This year’s DevFest exists to make sure it’s the former.
We’re expanding our speaker line-up beyond Botswana, South Africa and Kenya, with experts joining us from Angola and Spain. They’ll explore what it means to build with AI, how to secure what we build, and how to scale ideas from a single laptop in Gaborone to users across the region and the world. Our attendees will leave with new skills, new connections and the confidence to say “I can build that.”
Img: Ariq (Botswana) & Silva (South Africa), Google Developer Experts (GDEs)
Why this matters beyond one day
A single talk can change a student’s direction. A single connection can become a first job, a first startup, a first product with real users. When a young developer in Botswana sees someone from Harare, Nairobi or Milan on stage, doing the work they dream of doing, the world gets a little smaller and the path a little clearer and the future of Botswana a little brighter.
Talent is not the missing ingredient here. What the local tech space needs is access, exposure and opportunity, and DevFest, the GDG Gaborone premier event, delivers all three in one day.
Join us
If you’re a student, a self-taught developer, a designer, a founder or just curious: come. Bring a friend. Bring your questions and your half-finished project. You will leave with more than you arrived with.
Img : BUIST Student Reps
If you lead a business or an organization: this is your invitation to invest in the talent pipeline you’ll one day depend on. Sponsoring DevFest puts your brand alongside Botswana’s most promising young builders, in front of a growing, engaged community, and behind something that will outlast the event. The partners who’ve joined us before know the return isn’t only visibility. It’s being part of the story.
Here is what one of the attendees of last DevFest had to say “I used to think Botswana's tech scene was almost non-existent. Joining the GDG community opened my eyes to the people who were learning, building and growing in tech right here at home. Attending my first-ever DevFest Gaborone last year was such an exciting and eye-opening experience.”
He continued “ The interactive sessions, the new faces and seeing young developers alongside experienced professionals, all from Botswana made me realise just how much talent, passion and potential we have in our own community.” Phomolo Phiri a young upcoming engineer.
If you are a local software developer/engineer you’ve probably solved a problem this month that someone in the room is stuck on right now. Speaking at GDG events is how you share it, and it gives back to you as much as it gives to them: you sharpen your own understanding, get seen by students, founders and employers, and start building the path toward becoming a Google Developer Expert, a recognition for community contributors that can lead to speaking at Google events around the world. You don’t need to be a world expert to begin. Did you know that Botswana does not have any GDEs? Rubber Ducky Thursdays are a low-pressure place to start, and DevFest is the bigger stage. If you’re a local engineer, this is your invitation: come speak, share what you know, and start the journey from Gaborone to the world
The future of Botswana’s tech sector is being built right now, by people who are young, hungry and ready. Help us give them a stage.Sponsorship is still open.
DevFest Gaborone 2026 | 31 October | https://devfestgaborone.web.app/
Build. Secure. Scale.