Growth and marketing leader, community architect and ecosystem builder Oluchukwu Chiadika is set to release a new book making the case that internships, rather than academic degrees alone, can provide one of the most effective pathways into Africa’s rapidly expanding technology industry.

Titled Breaking Into Tech: Internship as a Pathway, the book brings together the first-person career stories of 20 professionals who began their journeys through internships and have gone on to build careers with some of Africa’s leading technology and financial services companies.

The book is scheduled to be launched in Lagos on August 29, 2026, in a hybrid event that will bring together technology professionals, young people, career development advocates, entrepreneurs and other members of the ecosystem.

Through the experiences of its contributors, Breaking Into Tech: Internship as a Pathway challenges the conventional belief that a computer science degree, technical certification or bootcamp qualification is a prerequisite for building a career in technology.

Instead, Chiadika uses real-life career journeys to demonstrate how practical experience, exposure, mentorship and access to opportunities can play a decisive role in helping young professionals enter and grow within the technology industry.

20 Career Journeys, One Recurring Pathway

The book features the stories of 20 professionals whose careers have taken them into leading roles across companies and organisations including Flutterwave, Paystack, Moniepoint, PiggyVest, Asana, TechCabal, Risevest, Interswitch, United Capital, LoftyInc, Bumpa and Antler, among others.

Rather than presenting technology as an industry exclusively reserved for software engineers and developers, the contributors represent a wide range of professional disciplines.

Their experiences span product management, growth marketing, customer success, venture capital, community building, human resources, design and cloud engineering, among other fields.

Each chapter follows a contributor’s journey before entering the technology industry, the opportunity that opened the door, the role an internship played in their development and the lessons they would share with people seeking to follow a similar path.

Taken together, the stories reveal a recurring theme: for many professionals, the internship was not merely a temporary position but a critical launchpad for their careers.

Challenging the Degree-First Approach

Chiadika’s book arrives at a time when Africa’s technology sector continues to create new career opportunities while thousands of young people struggle to secure their first professional break.

For many aspiring technology professionals, the traditional advice remains centred on acquiring academic qualifications or completing technical training before seeking employment.

Breaking Into Tech: Internship as a Pathway offers a different perspective.

The book argues that practical workplace experience can provide aspiring professionals with an opportunity to demonstrate their abilities, develop industry relationships, learn from experienced professionals and discover where their skills fit within the broader technology ecosystem.

It also seeks to broaden the definition of what it means to “work in tech”, showing that the industry requires far more than coding and software development.

Why the Book Matters Now

The release comes against the backdrop of major changes in the global technology and employment landscape.

Artificial intelligence, remote work and distributed teams are reshaping how companies recruit and how professionals access opportunities across geographical boundaries.

For African professionals, these developments have opened new possibilities to compete for roles with organisations beyond their immediate markets.

However, breaking into the industry remains one of the biggest challenges facing young professionals and career changers.

Chiadika said her motivation for the book was to document the less visible stages of successful technology careers and provide aspiring professionals with practical examples they can learn from.

“There’s a version of this industry that only gets talked about from the outside — the funding rounds, the exits, the headlines,” Chiadika said.

“This book is about what actually happens before any of that: the internship nobody clapped for, the unglamorous first role, the manager who took a chance. That’s where careers are actually built.”

Chiadika’s Journey

Chiadika is a growth leader, community architect and ecosystem builder whose work sits at the intersection of technology, fintech and human capital.

She currently serves as a Marketing Lead at one of Nigeria’s leading fintech companies and is the founder of Your Personal Finance Girl (YPFG), a digital-first platform focused on helping young professionals build stronger financial and career foundations.

She has spoken at more than 180 events and has featured on platforms including Arise TV, Smooth FM and Zikoko.

Her professional recognition includes being named among She Leads Africa’s Top 50 Under 30, Brummell Magazine’s Ones to Watch 2025 and Crest Africa’s Tech Power List 2025.

Breaking Into Tech: Internship as a Pathway is her second published book.

Lagos Launch Set for August 29

The book will be unveiled in Lagos on Saturday, August 29, 2026, during a hybrid launch designed to accommodate both physical and virtual participants.

Date: August 29, 2026
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. WAT
Format: Hybrid — in-person and virtual

As Chiadika prepares to launch the book, Breaking Into Tech: Internship as a Pathway seeks to shift the conversation around how young Africans enter the technology industry—from asking whether they have the perfect degree to asking whether they have been given the opportunity to gain practical experience.

By putting 20 real career journeys at the centre of the conversation, Chiadika hopes to show that the path into technology is not always linear—and that, for many professionals, the first internship can be the opportunity that changes everything.