Kouakou Christ Axel
Axel.
I discovered code at 12, on my sister's old red HP laptop whose screen only stayed up with supports I propped myself. To buy 20 MB internet passes, I saved 100 CFA a day from my school transport — enough for an hour on OpenClassrooms, screenshotting entire C++ chapters before the connection cut out. I understood almost nothing. But it was the beginning.
Today, I build backends running in production for thousands of Ivorian users. The curiosity never left — AI, blockchain, data science, as soon as a new tech emerges, I'm on it. And when I'm not coding, I read manga and sketch architectures on notebooks, dreaming out loud about products that could have real impact in Cote d'Ivoire.
The journey
I was 12-13, in 8th grade, when I discovered code. I worked on my sister's old red HP laptop — a computer whose screen only stayed up if I propped it with supports I placed myself every time I wanted to turn it on. That's the machine where it all started.
Back then, on the Orange network, 20 MB of internet cost 200 CFA and lasted one hour. My school transport cost 300 CFA. So every day, I did the math: I walked part of the way — the equivalent of 100 CFA — then took a taxi for the remaining 200 CFA. Those saved 100 CFA, I set aside. Every two days, I had enough for a 20 MB internet pass.
And during that hour, I'd rush to OpenClassrooms. I took screenshots at full speed of entire C++ chapters, so I could read them offline afterward. I understood almost nothing. But it was fun, and I felt something opening up. From time to time, friends of my older brother would visit, and I'd squeeze two or three explanations out of them that helped me move forward.
I installed Code::Blocks on that same laptop. It eventually gave up before I could seriously finish my courses — but not before I had time to write my first batch scripts. Small useful things, like a script that automatically shut down the computer after a set time, so I'd go back to my homework and my father wouldn't get upset seeing me still in front of the screen.
I already knew I wanted to do computer science — if only to finally understand what I was reading on OpenClassrooms. After my baccalaureate, I enrolled at Pigier Cote d'Ivoire. And unlike many devs around me, I never went through WordPress. Not because I look down on it — but because I wanted to code. Understand what happens under the hood. Type the lines myself. Drag-and-drop never interested me.
That same reflex still drives me today toward every emerging tech — AI, blockchain, data science, Rust. As soon as I see something new, I dive in. And I give it everything: quality is what defines me, and I never ship something half-done. But I keep things simple — no unnecessary jargon, no over-engineering to impress. Just code that works, for people who actually use it.
“I don't draw for money. I draw because what I write is true.”
— Rohan Kishibe
What defines me
Context before code
I grew up in Abidjan. I know a user on Wave doesn't have the same connection or reflexes as a user on Stripe in Paris. When I design a product, I start with the real context.
Legacy doesn't scare me
Other people's messy code, manual deployments, 3 years of tech debt — that's exactly the kind of project where I'm most useful. Many devs prefer greenfield. I prefer saving what already exists.
I learn in public
I publish what I learn, even when it's uncomfortable to admit I'm discovering something. Data science, DevOps, Rust — I document the walk in progress, not just the final victory.
I want to build local
My long-term goal isn't to code for Parisian startups remotely. It's to build tools that solve real problems in Cote d'Ivoire — from informal commerce to parish management.
What I'm working on
Deploying my portfolio in Docker multi-stage with Prisma and Better Auth
Learning data science (pandas, scikit-learn, and soon PyTorch)
Building eba.coffee, my coffee shop brand with a long-term holding vision
Exploring how AI can serve Ivorian informal commerce