AfricanProgrammer

Getting Started with Next.js for African Developers

A practical guide to building modern web apps with Next.js 15 — the framework powering Africa's hottest startups.

Back to blog
AfricanProgrammer TeamApr 15, 20251 min read
Next.js
Web Development
Tutorial

Next.js has become the go-to framework for production web applications — and for good reason. It combines React's component model with server rendering, API routes, and excellent developer experience.

Why Next.js?

  • Full-stack in one repo — API routes mean you don't need a separate backend for many projects
  • Great performance — Automatic code splitting and image optimization
  • Job market demand — Listed in most African startup engineering job descriptions

Your first project

Create a new project with:

npx create-next-app@latest my-app --typescript --tailwind --app

Then run the development server:

npm run dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 and you'll see your app running.

Next steps

Explore the App Router, learn about Server Components, and deploy to Vercel for free. Our React Fundamentals tutorial is a great companion to this guide.