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The Blueprint

From “where do I start?” to your first role, in five steps.

This is the engineering marathon every Mctaba student runs, from complete beginner to production-ready developer. Here’s exactly what happens at each step, and what you leave with.

Start step 1. ApplySee the curriculum

  • DOOR 1

    Get hired

  • DOOR 2

    Freelance

  • DOOR 3

    Build your startup

Before day 1

Step 1: Apply and interview

Fill a short application, then have a brief conversation with our team. It isn’t a coding test. You don’t need any experience. We want to understand your motivation, your schedule and whether you’re ready to commit 20 to 25 hours a week.

What happens

  • Online application, about 10 minutes
  • A short interview with the team
  • Pick your track: full-time hybrid or part-time fully remote
  • Pick your payment plan and reserve your seat

YOU LEAVE WITH

A confirmed seat in Cohort 09, a track that fits your life, and a plan to pay for it.

Apply now

The early phases

Step 2: Master foundations

Live classes take you through HTML, CSS, JavaScript and Git, with daily challenges and small projects that stack up fast. You touch real M-Pesa and WhatsApp integrations early, so the fundamentals never feel abstract.

What you learn

  • HTML5 and CSS3 layouts
  • Modern JavaScript (ES6+)
  • HTTP, JSON and APIs with Postman
  • Git and GitHub workflows

How it runs

  • 4 live classes + 1 peer session a week
  • Daily challenges with mentor feedback
  • Code reviews on every project
“I had zero coding experience. By Week 4 I had already built a working M-Pesa payment link.”
Aisha Njoroge, former customer service rep

YOU LEAVE WITH

The confidence to build and ship a working web app, and your first payment integration.

Throughout the marathon

Step 3: Build your portfolio

You build 8 production-grade apps that solve real African business problems, from an M-Pesa paylink to a multi-tenant SME operating system. Each one is deployed, reviewed and ready to show an employer or a client.

  • M-Pesa Paylink and Receipts
  • WhatsApp Lead Capture CRM
  • USSD Customer Self-Service
  • E-commerce + WhatsApp Updates
  • Chama Savings Platform
  • Booking and Appointments
  • Multi-Channel Notification Hub
  • Capstone: The African SME OS

YOU LEAVE WITH

A GitHub and live portfolio of 8 apps, plus your own startup project presented at demo day.

See every project in the curriculum

The final stretch

Step 4: Career preparation

Skills get you the interview. Preparation gets you the offer. We polish how you present yourself, rehearse the technical interview until it stops being scary, and put you in front of companies that hire from our cohorts.

  • CV and LinkedIn

    Rewritten around the apps you’ve shipped.

  • Mock technical interviews

    Practice with engineers until it feels normal.

  • Hiring partner network

    Introductions to companies that hire our graduates.

  • Portfolio review

    Your GitHub and demos, ready for a recruiter’s 30 seconds.

YOU LEAVE WITH

A CV, profile and interview game that match the engineer you’ve become.

Graduation and after

Step 5: Land your first role

We match you with opportunities at startups and tech companies in Kenya, East Africa and beyond, and keep supporting you until you land. Whichever door you pick, you don’t walk through it alone.

  • GET HIRED

    Brian built a WhatsApp CRM for a real estate agency and was hired as a junior dev two months after graduating.

  • FREELANCE

    Grace, a secondary school teacher, was freelancing on M-Pesa integration projects by Week 5.

  • BUILD YOUR STARTUP

    Your capstone becomes a real product, pitched live at demo day.

AND AFTER THAT

Career support until placement, lifetime access to materials and the alumni community.

A week in the marathon

Built around your life, not the other way round.

Both tracks cover the same curriculum with the same mentors. Plan for 20 to 25 hours a week including practice.

Full-Time · Hybrid

4 months

  • Mon to Thu, 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM
  • Hybrid: in person and online
  • 1 peer session a week

Part-Time · Fully remote

6 months

  • Mon to Thu, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
  • Fully remote, from anywhere
  • 1 peer session a week

COHORT 09 · 11 JANUARY 2027 · 10 SEATS

Step 1 takes ten minutes.

Apply nowBook a discovery call