Onja Madagascar

Onja Madagascar We train talented, underprivileged youth into world-class software developers. They’ll earn 25 times the salary they otherwise would have earned.

Onja’s mission is to propel brilliant young minds in the world’s poorest countries to access equal education and real career opportunities. It is targeting disadvantaged youth with the most potential, and the really unique part is that these very people will sustain the whole organisation in the future. HOW ONJA WORKS

Recruit: Onja identifies motivated young people who are extraordinarily intelli

gent but who don't have the chance to realise their potential, and in many cases don't have the means to finish high school. Staff meet with their families, explain the details of the education and employment social enterprise, and offer them a place in the program. Educate: Once identified and accepted, students will move to Onja's boarding school and complete a two-year education program of English and computer programming. While at Onja's school, students will be receive free room and board, education and life-changing experiences. Outsource: Upon completion of Onja's education program, graduates will be strong English speaking coders, and will begin working for Onja’s outsourcing enterprise, developing software for international clients. From the outsourcing enterprise Onja itself generates an income, which will be used to cover all of its costs and educate additional students. The outsourcing work completed by a single Onja graduate will generate enough income for Onja to educate a further 7 students. IN NUMBERS


$1.90 Onja is targeting young people from the 80% of Malagasy people below the international poverty line, living on less than $1.90 per day.


1% They may not have money, but they have intelligence. Onja’s students will represent the brightest 1% of young minds.


25 Once working, Onja graduates will earn 25 times the salary they otherwise would have earned.


100% 100% of Onja’s income will be used to cover its costs and educate additional students.


7:1 The outsourcing work completed by a single Onja graduate will generate enough income for Onja to educate a further 7 students. WHY CODING
Coding, or computer programming may seem like an odd career path for some of the world's poorest people, but when one considers the rise of globalization and improvements in technology, it starts to make sense. The reality is there are not enough computer programmers in the world, and global demand means that large companies are turning to outsourcing to meet the demand. Coding is a career that, due to its nature, can be done from anywhere in the world. Onja will be a self-sustaining outsourcing enterprise and because the education program will be very low cost compared to the earnings of the outsourcing enterprise, it can grow rapidly and quickly reach thousands of young people in future without relying on future donations. IMPACT
Doing justice to their brilliant minds, Onja will unlock education and secure employment for its students. Suddenly things like warm blankets, menstrual hygiene, education, nutrition, healthcare, financial services, quality housing, sanitation, security, and access to the legal system, (to name just a few) will become affordable for them and their families.

26/05/2026

Growth mindset, teamwork and a commitment to paying it forward are key traits we look for during bootcamp.

Onja is powered by the brilliance of Malagasy youth, and chosen students share our ambition to create a more prosperous future for Madagascar. As we prepare to welcome larger student cohorts, we will host multiple rounds of bootcamp with smaller groups to better assess these mission-critical traits.

Do you know the legacy of the The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling event?Onja team members had the chance to discover this o...
18/05/2026

Do you know the legacy of the The Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling event?

Onja team members had the chance to discover this one-of-a-kind race with mysterious origins in our latest Share and Tell session led by English Course Designer Luke Hatton.

Every year, people from around the world gather atop the 180-meter hill to chase a 4kg wheel of Double Gloucester cheese down an intense 70° angle slope. Luke, a Gloucestershire native who joined Onja earlier this year, shared photos and videos from past races and answered questions about the quirky tradition.

Share and Tell sessions are fun moments for our people to learn more about each other. As our team expands here in Toamasina to welcome more people from across Madagascar and the world, these moments help bring us closer together.

Learn more about what “Togetherness” means for Onja, and the other values we focus on nurturing here on our campus in beautiful Toamasina: https://onja.org/about

We’re looking for a Business Development Officer!As a Business Development Officer, your mission is to build and grow ou...
15/05/2026

We’re looking for a Business Development Officer!

As a Business Development Officer, your mission is to build and grow our client base by connecting with local businesses and identifying opportunities for our services.
This is a hands-on, externally-focused role. We’re looking for someone who can take ownership from day one to reach out and build relationships that will help drive impact on the ground.

Apply today at https://onja.org/careers/business-development-officer

We’re looking for a Legal Officer to join our team in Toamasina! As a legal Officer at Onja, your mission is to provide ...
13/05/2026

We’re looking for a Legal Officer to join our team in Toamasina!

As a legal Officer at Onja, your mission is to provide legal support so our organisation complies with all national and international laws and regulations. Your work will help us mitigate risks and uphold high ethical standards to ensure that our programme has a lasting, positive impact on the communities we serve.

Apply today at https://onja.org/careers/legal-officer

Join our incredible community of Onja supporters!Every quarter, we share updates from across the organisation via our ne...
06/05/2026

Join our incredible community of Onja supporters!

Every quarter, we share updates from across the organisation via our newsletter to keep you informed on our work in Madagascar to train underprivileged youth into world-class software developers.

Subscribe to our newsletter and learn about our pilot waves; opportunities to hire developers; team milestones; impact stories from the ground; and so much more!

Sign up today: https://onja.org/newsletter

30/04/2026

Last week, Onja took part in the Indian Ocean Digital and Innovation Fair.

The event brought together leaders in developing Madagascar’s digital sector to share how they’re shaping the future of tech on the island and throughout the wider region.

This was a great opportunity to strengthen collaboration with others dedicated to supporting Madagascar’s digital transformation to bring more opportunities to the country and its young people.
With the fastest internet speed in Africa and a growing digital sector, we remain committed to using technology as a force for good in the region.

Curious to learn more about how you can work with Onja to develop Madagascar’s digital sector? Get in touch via our website at https://onja.org/contact

All Com Event - ACE

28/04/2026

Bigger, better, more waves of change!

Onja, which means ‘waves’ in Malagasy, began to create sustainable pathways to help break cycles of disadvantage. We do this by ensuring each student we recruit and train has a positive ripple effect on advancing Madagascar’s social and economic development.

This pay it forward model is a catalyst for Madagascar’s development and 2025 was all about scaling internal systems to support our teams into a new phase of growth. As we prepare to welcome our largest wave of students to date, we asked a few team members to share their top moments from 2025–and what they’re most looking forward to this year!

Read Onja’s 2025 Annual Report here:https://onja.org/about/onja-annual-report-2025.pdf

Nous sommes arrivées au Salon de l'innovation et du numérique de l'océan Indien !Venez nous dire « Hello! »  au stand 34...
24/04/2026

Nous sommes arrivées au Salon de l'innovation et du numérique de l'océan Indien !

Venez nous dire « Hello! » au stand 34 et découvrir comment notre mission contribue à bâtir un Madagascar plus prospère !

« Depuis 2017, Onja s'est fortement investie dans la transformation numérique de Madagascar en formant des jeunes défavorisés pour qu'ils deviennent des développeurs de logiciels », explique Annie Tsiverianjara, responsable du recrutement.

« Nous sommes impatients de rencontrer d'autres acteurs de la région qui contribuent à construire un avenir meilleur pour nos jeunes en leur garantissant l'accès aux mêmes opportunités que celles offertes ailleurs en Afrique et dans le monde. »

All Com Event - ACE

Did you know that 9 out of 10 adolescent girls and young women are offline in developing countries? This is a symptom of...
23/04/2026

Did you know that 9 out of 10 adolescent girls and young women are offline in developing countries? This is a symptom of the gender digital divide – the gap in access to and use of Information and Communication technologies (ICT) between men and women.

Girls in ICT Day is a key moment to highlight the need to improve digital inclusion for young women and girls in Madagascar. At Onja, we’re helping to close this gap and advance African women’s representation in tech by training underprivileged youth into world-class software developers.

70% of our developers are women, and their success is paving the way for other young women to gain access to opportunities in the global digital economy. Take Sarah, the first Onja developer to be invited on an overseas work trip to collaborate in person with her engineering colleagues in Germany.

Six years earlier, she joined Onja’s inaugural cohort from her remote village having never used a computer. Today, she continues to work with Frankfurt-based consulting firm Inspired Consulting as a core part of their engineering team.

Visit our YouTube channel to discover more developer stories:
https://www.youtube.com/-Madagascar

Bootcamp is back! Onja’s recruitment team is in Mahanoro to host the last round of testing for a portion of Wave 2 candi...
22/04/2026

Bootcamp is back! Onja’s recruitment team is in Mahanoro to host the last round of testing for a portion of Wave 2 candidates.

Top performers from the Onja exam are invited to an all-expenses paid bootcamp where we learn more about each candidate and how they work together. Throughout the two-week bootcamp, we host activities that assess qualities like ambition, teamwork, and organisational fit.

At this stage, candidates have demonstrated their academic excellence and aptitude for key STEM subjects. Bootcamp provides a space to see how candidates work with others and assess their alignment with Onja’s values, notably love, diligence, integrity, togetherness, humility, gratitude and business excellence.

We believe that Madagascar’s development is driven by the brilliance of Malagasy youth. By connecting gifted young people with opportunities to break cycles of social and economic stagnation, we empower them to pay it forward so future generations can thrive.

The incredible accomplishments of Wave 1, Onja’s inaugural cohort, has laid the groundwork for this moment and we look forward to welcoming Wave 2 in Toamasina soon!

Visit the “Stories” section on our blog space to meet a few of the students we’ve recruited over the years : https://onja.org/blog

Address

Mahanoro
Toamasina

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