“It was a leap into the unknown”: Young IT specialists from Kenya complete internships in Estonia
In March of this year, 20 young Kenyan IT specialists arrived in Estonia for their first-ever work experience. For many, the flight to Estonia was their first time leaving their hometown of Nairobi.
“Initially, I knew nothing about Estonia,” said 22-year-old Hakeem Alavi. But when he found out he would carry out his internship in Estonia, he set about gathering more information. “I discovered that Estonia is an ideal place for IT specialists to develop skills, as it is a leader in technology and one of the most developed e-states in the world,” he adds.
Alavi thinks this internship In Estonia will help him in Kenya’s highly competitive labour market. The young Kenyan IT specialist did his four-month internship at Tallinn University’s Centre for Educational Technology, where he will remain after his internship and continue to work for a few months. “I worked on user experience (UI/UX) as a designer and junior developer for VaraCraft, an innovative educational solution,” said Alavi. It is being developed at Tallinn University with an online environment that allows teachers to create interactive learning materials for students. After that, Alavi hopes to find a job in an IT company here that might benefit from his knowledge and skills.
Two digital solutions for teachers
Like Alavi, 22-year-old Baranaba Mugabane will stay in Estonia after his internship ends and start his master's studies here this autumn. “Before coming to Estonia, I had heard impressive things about the digital ecosystem here. I knew that Bolt, which is very popular in Kenya, was founded in Estonia and that Estonia has the highest number of unicorns per capita,” he said, describing why he wanted to come to Estonia.
He will also remain at Tallinn University’s Centre for Educational Technology and start a two-year master's programme in artificial intelligence this autumn. He also wants to continue operating his start-up, Arttribute, which he recently registered as a company in Estonia. “Arttribute aims to combat the unauthorised use of works of art by enabling fair and transparent use of artists' works in artificial intelligence, thereby facilitating proper reference and authorisation for use,” said Mugabane.
Both Alavi and Mugabane’s internships at Tallinn University’s Centre for Educational Technology were supervised by analyst Priit Tammets. According to him, the Centre has been involved in various international educational technology projects for over 25 years. “Our software development team has always offered internship opportunities in research and development projects,” he explained. They didn’t hesitate when they had the opportunity to sponsor Strathmore University students from Kenya for four-month internships. There were six trainees from Kenya at the Centre for Educational Technology.
“Their work was carried out as part of ETAG's research project ‘Model-Based Learning Analytics for fostering Students' higher order thinking skills.’” said Tammets. The project aims to develop pedagogically sound analytical solutions for teachers to help students develop more complex thinking skills. “The Ministry of Education and Research funded the students involved as part of the Eduflex project, which aims to develop teaching methods and supporting prototypes for implementing flexible teaching methods,” Tammets added.
The work done by the Kenyan interns has resulted in two solutions that allow teachers to create personalised study materials for students with the help of artificial intelligence. Tammets states that their expectations were high, requiring them to be willing to contribute to the Centre’s projects from day one, but fortunately, they were not disappointed. “The interns have shown great professionalism, initiative and ability to work as a team," he said.
Compared to local learners, Tammets said that Kenyan students were very motivated, had a great desire to learn and could self-direct their learning. They have very good technical backgrounds, which they acquired while studying in Kenya. “It gives us, in turn, insight into how to develop IT education in Estonia as quickly as developing countries like Kenya," notes Tammets.
Developing a mini-game for mental health
In addition to working alongside Tallinn University’s IT professionals, Kenyan trainees interned at two other companies: Triumf Health and Kodally, a software development company. Martin Wachira, 22, worked for Triumph Health. He said one of his reasons for completing an internship in Estonia was that he wanted international work experience in addition to his academic studies.
“I admit that coming to Estonia was a leap into the unknown,” said Wachira, adding that he is glad he ended up in Estonia. At Triumf Health, he worked with a small team, creating a mini-game to develop children's emotional intelligence. During the internship, he learned more about 3D modelling, which was used to develop the game.
“Also, it convinced me to continue my master's studies in digital educational games at Tallinn University,” said Wachira. Though he returned to Kenya after the internship, he will be back to continue his studies this autumn. “Triumf Health hired five IT students from Kenya who worked on creating new functionalities for Triumfland Saga, a children's mental health game,” said Triumf Health CEO Kadri Haljas. Since the company began operating in the Kenyan market at the beginning of this year, it was an excellent opportunity to work with team members with a local background.
“The interns were able to research mental health services in Kenya in terms of services and technologies. Under the guidance of Leandro Gil, the company’s chief technology officer, they created a new mini-game for the mobile app that would especially create value for Kenyan children but would still be useful for everyone in different cultural spaces,” Haljas said.
In addition to the internship, the young Kenyan IT specialists continued their education in informatics. “I taught them full stack for creating web applications and how to organise with programming-related processes more efficiently,” said Tallinn University informatics lecturer Raimo Pregel. He explains that the main emphasis was on preparing them for a real work environment by guiding them through the entire process on a smaller scale while teaching them all the necessary skills.
“The main difference I saw with the Kenyan students was that it was very easy to see their gratitude. Also regardless of difficulties and challenges, the students could motivate themselves, work together and support each other. There was more of a feeling of togetherness among them,” said Pregel. According to him, the group developed a lot within a short time.
Pregel believes these specialists would help mitigate the labour shortage in the IT sector here. “The skills required in the IT field change so fast, and to keep up with the times, intensive practical training is what creates the global talents of the future,” he said, noting that all 20 Kenyan students had acquired bachelor's degrees before coming to Estonia.
Internships in Estonia funded by the European Union
"Estonia has helped me develop enormously. Professionally, because I have had the opportunity to learn from real professionals and have been inspired by the awesome architecture and really old buildings,” said Kendi Njeru of his first work experience abroad. He thinks his work ethic and newly acquired digital skills will help his CV stand out in Kenya’s competitive IT sector.
The European Union financed the Kenyan IT specialists who came to Estonia for four-month internships through the Digital Explorers II project. Its budget was nearly 3.5 million euros, and the Kenyan students were paid during their internship from these funds. The project itself started last March and will last until February 2026. The Digital Explorers II project, in which young Kenyan professionals come to Estonia, is part of the EU's talent partnership initiative, which helps to address skills and labour shortages in the EU and to make the region an attractive option to talented individuals from around the world.
It is a follow-up to the Digital Explorers project carried out in partnership between Lithuania and Nigeria from 2019 to 2022. The Lithuanian think tank OSMOS implemented the project with 1.35 million euros. However, 15 of the 26 IT interns remained in Lithuania to work after the programme.
The demand for foreign talent and digital skills is a challenge that unites the Baltic countries. Digital Explorers is the first development cooperation project between the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), the Lithuanian think tank OSMOS and Latvia StartinLV, which supports start-up companies.
What do young Kenyans think about Estonia?
The interns knew little about Estonia before coming here, or at least nothing apart from Estonia’s digital success, but Estonian society impressed them during their stay.
“I'll be honest, I didn't know anything about Estonia as a country,” admits Martin Wachira. He said he tried to acquaint himself with Estonia before he left. “Since I hadn't been to Estonia before, I didn't know what to expect. When I got here, I had two surprises. First, it was very cold. Secondly, I was amazed at how well technology is integrated into society,” Wachira said.
For Wachira, the most significant difference between Estonia and Kenya is the absence of social hierarchies. “In Kenya, it is tough to communicate with people far away from you hierarchically. The lack of hierarchies was a pleasant surprise in Estonia, and it helped me meet different acquaintances more easily,” he said.
Hakeem Alavi adds that the last four months in Estonia have completely changed his life. “I have improved a lot during this time as a person and in very different ways,” he said. Although he has been able to visit a number of other European countries, he noted Estonia will remain one of his favourites because of how efficient everything is here.
"This small country holds a big place in my heart,” Alavi said. “Although Estonian people may seem cold at first, they are very kind after getting to know them,” adds Alavi. At the same time, he admits that Estonia is much more individualistic than Kenya, where they are very community-based.
Baranaba Mugabane said that coming to Estonia has developed him personally and professionally, and he is grateful for the opportunity to make lifelong friends. “Estonia's quiet and calm atmosphere is so different from Nairobi’s crowded and noisy streets,” he said. Since Estonia is small in terms of both area and population, you can often meet people you already know here. That kind of thing is very rare in Kenya. “It was a pleasant surprise that everything in Tallinn is within walking distance, reducing the need for a car. It contrasts very strongly to Kenya’s significantly larger capital,” said Mugabane, who hopes to begin a startup here in Estonia after his master's studies programme.
Pictures: Kevin Melk/ESTDEV; Jake Farra.
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