Software developers in Uganda, as with any other industry, are geared at earning a living and they could be some of the highly earning professions in Uganda. According to Glassdoor, one of the largest jobs and recruitment website, 6 of the 15 highest paying jobs as of 2019 are in the software development industry. While a number of developers start out in the industry out of curiosity, and for some it becomes a passion, most if not all would like to get paid commensurately for their skills and/or products. But how much do Ugandan software developers earn?
It’s common knowledge that the more years of experience one has, the more money they expect to earn. In a recent Andela report, a study was carried out and its results do not differ much from that expectation and we see that respondents with 5+ years of experience earn significantly more, upwards of UGX 5M per month. Most of these are expected to be mid-level to senior software developers but most of the mid-level developers are earning a gross monthly salary between UGX 2.5 M to UGX 7 M. More of senior developers are earning a gross salary of 5M+ per month.
There is an overlap in the UGX 5M range for the mid-level and senior software developers which can be attributed to varying skills and years of experience as the industry starts to differentiate the mid-level to senior developers; the type of employer maybe a factor as well.
Most junior software developers earn a gross monthly salary between 0-2.5M with the few in the UGX 2.5M-5M range most likely being at the stage when they start to transition to mid-level developers. This might also be attributed to the type of employer as we are seeing corporate organizations and government paying more than local start-ups which are limited in what they can afford to pay as they try to break even.
From the study, it was also observed that software developers who work remotely, from Uganda, for companies outside Uganda, mostly in the US or Europe, seem to earn a lot more than the employees working for local companies.
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The highest gross salaries are above UGX 10M for those working remotely.They are closely followed by people who work in corporate and multinational companies with an average gross salary of UGX 5.5M.
The rest of the software developers seem to be within the range of 0 to 2.5M with the more senior developers in the 2.5M to 5M bracket. Employees in startup companies exhibit the lowest salaries recorded.
Local startups remuneration for software developers
The local startups pay the least in Uganda’s software developer ecosystem which is understandable given the financial constraints faced when starting any business. Their staff is also mostly comprised of junior developers. This is partly due to their high staff turnover rates as these developers are always in search of better paying jobs especially as they start to grow their skills
Corporate and multinational organizations pay better than the local startups and offer benefits on top of the basic pay. This results in better staff retention. Foreign startups in the market also pay at a similar scale. There is the exception of those working remotely from Uganda, for companies out of the country who earn significantly more than the average market rates.
According to the data, Government and Non-Government Organizations pay software developers quite well. NGOs are mostly funded with donor money and this generally comes with stipulations.The skills required and the salary to go with them are usually outlined by the donor and those figures are set to attract the best possible talent, local or expatriate.Some of the government contracts, particularly in the tech space are also donor funded and this might partly explain the somewhat higher salary ranges.
