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Millions Can Code. Few Can Upload.
Where developer talent outpaces the infrastructure meant to serve it.
Philip Saparov
November 03, 2025
In partnership with
Greetings, seeker of progress and potential!
What happens when brainpower surges ahead—but the signal can’t keep up?
Around the world, countries are churning out developers and engineers by the million—only to strand them behind slow networks, spotty power, and digital bottlenecks. The result? Stalled innovation, brain drains, and lost opportunity.
In this issue, we uncover where tech talent is booming—and where the infrastructure is breaking under it.
Let’s plug in.
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India’s developer ecosystem is massive—over 5.8 million software professionals make it the largest in the world. Yet the digital backbone often struggles to keep pace. Rural internet speeds lag behind global averages, and urban infrastructure is patchy at best.
Still, India exports tech talent globally—its engineers power Silicon Valley, London fintech, and Singapore startups. Domestic demand for connectivity is ballooning, driven by digital public infrastructure and AI startups.
What’s the hold-up? Investment in fiber and reliable electricity hasn't scaled fast enough to match the country’s human capital. That’s changing—but slowly.
📌 Curious Fact: India has more developers than the U.S., but ranks 80th globally in average internet speed—behind Vietnam and Morocco.
Nigeria is a hotbed of developer growth, thanks to booming interest in coding, a youthful population, and remote work demand. Platforms like Andela and Decagon have trained thousands of engineers for global clients.
But while the talent is real, the tech stack is not. Internet reliability remains one of the top complaints among local professionals. Outages are frequent, mobile data is expensive, and electricity—an essential for online work—is unreliable.
Still, Nigerian developers are building payment systems, blockchain tools, and apps used globally. The resilience is undeniable—but infrastructure threatens to be the ceiling on ambition.
📌 Insight: Nigeria is the fastest-growing remote tech labor market in Africa—but suffers one of the highest broadband costs per GB on the continent.
Long known for its BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) industry, the Philippines is evolving fast into a software development hub. Local universities are pushing out developers, and international companies are hiring them for everything from backend systems to AI model training.
Yet the archipelago faces a unique challenge: natural disasters like typhoons frequently knock out power and internet access, disrupting productivity. And outside Metro Manila, connectivity is spotty at best.
To go from service hub to software powerhouse, the country needs to build digital resilience—not just tech talent.
📌 Stat to Watch: Despite producing 75,000+ IT grads per year, the Philippines ranks 108th in global internet speed—a major mismatch with its ambitions.
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Brazil’s developer community is one of the largest in Latin America, with over 500,000 professional coders and a vibrant open-source culture. But Brazil is also notoriously expensive when it comes to hardware and connectivity.
Add in high latency for global servers and government red tape, and you’ve got a developer economy that feels throttled. Many engineers seek remote gigs with U.S. or European firms—but struggle with lag, cloud access limitations, or compliance issues.
Still, Brazil punches above its weight in fintech and edtech startups. It’s a country with code—but stuck in the slow lane.
📌 Little-Known Data Point: Brazil’s internet is 10x more expensive than South Korea’s—and nearly 30% slower, according to recent broadband studies.
Egypt’s tech ecosystem is expanding rapidly, with government support and private investment boosting developer education. Cairo has become a regional startup hub, and coding bootcamps are producing tech-savvy youth at scale.
But that growth often hits a wall: inconsistent power grids, congested mobile networks, and undersea cable damage regularly disrupt internet access. This has sparked frustration among the developer community, many of whom must adapt their schedules to match electricity availability.
Still, Egypt is trying to turn this challenge into a feature—positioning itself as a “developer outsourcing zone” for the Middle East and Europe.
📌 Striking Stat: Cairo now ranks #1 in Africa for number of tech startups, but Egypt still sees daily internet outages affecting major commercial zones.
Pakistan is home to over 800,000 freelance digital workers, making it one of the top remote-work countries in the world. Platforms like Fiverr and Upwork are full of Pakistani designers, developers, and tech consultants.
Yet the country’s internet quality remains a key barrier. Power outages are routine, and digital censorship can cause sudden service blocks. That unpredictability undermines the trust of international clients, even as talent quality improves.
Still, Pakistan is betting on fiber expansion and 5G pilot zones—but these remain urban luxuries, not nationwide realities.
📌 Unexpected Metric: Pakistan ranks #4 globally for freelance IT work—but sits below 120th in fixed broadband rankings.
One of the few outliers in this global imbalance is Georgia—not the U.S. state, but the Black Sea nation. While relatively small, Georgia has prioritized tech infrastructure and education, creating fast-track programs to train coders and back it up with high-speed internet—even in rural areas.
This has allowed it to quietly become a remote work haven, attracting digital nomads and foreign startups alike. Tech talent is modest in volume, but high in support—and that makes all the difference.
📌 Hidden Gem: Georgia offers gigabit internet in parts of its countryside—and a visa program for remote workers earning over $2,000/month.
So, yeah – the code divide is costing futures.
When brilliant minds can’t deploy their work due to outages, lag, or red tape, everyone loses: investors, employers, entire economies.
The takeaway? Talent alone won’t drive the next digital leap. Infrastructure is the multiplier.
So whether you’re relocating, investing, or hiring—follow the signal.
Warm regards,
Shane Fulmer
Founder, WorldPopulationReview.com
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