Tech Lead · Fullstack JS/TS Dev · Douala 🇨🇲

Brightman Efo'o

I build web products for French-speaking Africa — offline-first PWAs, Mobile Money payments, WhatsApp commerce — and I document my move into AI engineering, in public.

See my projectsFollow me on LinkedIn
brightky@douala:~
$ ls ~/projects

Products built for the field

Unstable connections, payments without a bank card, non-technical users: every project solves a real problem in the French-speaking African market.

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01★ featured
$ cat iphone-cameroon.md

iPhone Cameroon — Apple showroom & store

An Apple e-commerce storefront in the apple.com showroom style, built for the Cameroonian market: catalog, animated product pages (GSAP/Lenis + React Three Fiber 3D), cart, Mobile Money checkout (MTN MoMo / Orange Money) and an admin dashboard (products, orders, analytics). Turborepo monorepo, front ↔ API fully typed through a single Zod contract (server-side re-pricing, transactional stock).

Next.js 15NestJS 10PrismaPostgreSQL
Read the case study→
ReservaBabi — multi-service booking marketplace
02★ featured
$ cat reservababi.md

ReservaBabi — multi-service booking marketplace

A multi-service booking marketplace (hotels, restaurants, transport, events): customer web app, client & admin mobile apps, back office and API. Mobile Money payments, e-tickets, real-time notifications and built-in video calls (LiveKit). Flagship product led at Desymtech.

Next.jsNestJSReact NativeMobile Money
reservababi.com→
TransitSoft Services — customs transit software
03★ featured
$ cat transitsoft-services.md

TransitSoft Services — customs transit software

A multi-agency suite for a customs transit firm: from parcel drop-off to final delivery — agencies, warehouses, containerization, inter-agency routing, invoicing, accounting, debts, storage penalties, client portal. Turborepo monorepo: NestJS API + Prisma + Socket.IO/BullMQ, plus web, ops-admin, desktop, mobile and field-tablet apps.

NestJSPrismaPostgreSQLSocket.IO
transitsoftservices.com→
</>
04★ featured
$ cat wapino-whatsapp-api.md

WhatsApp Internal API — multi-session Baileys

An internal multi-session WhatsApp API built on Baileys (WebSocket, no Chromium): QR-based sessions, per-session API keys, a rate-limited queue (15 msg/min), retry with backoff, real-time delivery statuses (socket.io) and an @wa/sdk npm SDK. Serves as a reusable OTP/notification channel across products — Mon Bara, TransitSoft.

BaileysExpressBullMQSocket.IO
Read the case study→
</>
05★ featured
$ cat chess-coach.md

Chess Coach — mobile chess coach

A mobile chess learning app (openings, endgames, tactics, puzzles) with a spaced-repetition Move Trainer (FSRS), practice against a bot with configurable strength, and deadline-based goals. Personalized content from chess.com / Lichess data, Stockfish engine running natively (no WebView). Hexagonal NestJS + Expo monorepo.

React NativeExpoNestJSFSRS
Read the case study→
Mon Bara — domestic staff marketplace
06★ featured
$ cat mon-bara.md

Mon Bara — domestic staff marketplace

A platform (mobile + back office + showcase site) matching domestic workers / providers with homeowners, targeting French-speaking Africa. Chat (Stream), VOIP (Agora), payments (Paystack/Stripe), PostGIS geolocation and multi-channel OTP over SMS + WhatsApp.

React NativeExpoNestJSPrisma
Case study on request→
All projects →
$ which --all skills

Stack & skills

From front-end to deployment, with one obsession: it has to work even on a bad connection.

TypeScriptReactNode.jsFirebaseDevOpsNext.jsExpressMongoDBMySQLPostgreSQLDockerCI/CDGitPWATailwind CSSThree.jsFramer MotionNetlifyREST APISoftware architecture
$ git checkout -b ai-engineering

I'm learning AI engineering. In public.

No artificial storytelling: I start from my fullstack dev foundations and document every step on LinkedIn — experiments, benchmarks, failures included.

// in progress

Foundations

Integrating LLM APIs into real products, applied prompt engineering, active monitoring of frontier models.

// next up

RAG & agents

Retrieval systems over local business data, agents to automate the workflows of African SMEs.

// horizon

Fine-tuning & research

Adapting open-source models to French-speaking African contexts, technical contributions and publications.

$ cat ~/career.log

Career

Five roles, from freelance to Tech Lead — backend, fullstack, then product leadership. Always JS/TS, always shipped.

Logo Desymtech

Chef de projet technique

Desymtech · Temps plein

Jan 2026 — today · 8 mo

Douala, Cameroun · À distance

Je pilote la conception et le développement des produits digitaux de Desymtech, de l'architecture au déploiement en production : ReservaBabi (marketplace multi-services), ReservaQuebec (déclinaison canadienne) et MonBara (mise en relation géolocalisée). Au quotidien : architecture technique et choix de stack, encadrement de l'équipe (revues de code, standards, mentoring), gestion de projet (sprints, priorisation, livrables), DevOps (CI/CD, déploiements, monitoring) et interface entre le métier et la technique.

Gestion du personnel techniqueLeadership technologiqueArchitecture logicielleGestion de projetDevOpsCI/CD
Logo ST DIGITAL

Full Stack Developer

ST DIGITAL · Temps plein

May 2025 — Jul 2026 · 1 yr 3 mo

Douala V, Littoral, Cameroun · Sur site

Conception et design de systèmes cohérents et scalables avec Node.js, React et les technologies web modernes. Applications maintenables et bien architecturées en TypeScript, front et back robustes. DevOps : pipelines CI/CD (GitHub Actions), automatisation d'infrastructure et optimisation des déploiements.

Node.jsAdonisJSReactTypeScriptCI/CDGitHub Actions
Logo L'Agence Digitale

Développeur backend Node.js

L'Agence Digitale · Temps plein

Jun 2024 — May 2025 · 1 yr

Douala, Littoral, Cameroun · Hybride

Appelé constamment à mettre au point des backends toujours plus performants.

Node.jsBackendAPI REST
Logo Chillo Tech

Développeur Full Stack web & mobile

Chillo Tech · Temps plein

Jan 2024 — Jun 2024 · 6 mo

Bafoussam, Ouest, Cameroun · À distance

Au sein d'une équipe de jeunes développeurs, mise sur pied de solutions innovantes, sur le web comme sur mobile.

React.jsReact NativeJavaScript

Développeur fullstack JS

DMServices · Freelance

Jul 2023 — Feb 2024 · 8 mo

Cameroun · À distance

Développement fullstack JavaScript : sites et applications web de bout en bout.

JavaScriptFull StackNode.js
$ tail -n 3 ~/blog

Latest posts

Field notes on fullstack dev, the African market and AI engineering.

Welcome — I'm learning AI engineering in public
July 10, 2026·1 min

Welcome — I'm learning AI engineering in public

Why I'm documenting my move into AI in French, failures and all.

metaialearning in public
read→
Why I'm building JavaScript.cm
July 10, 2026·1 min

Why I'm building JavaScript.cm

A rallying point for French-speaking JavaScript devs in Cameroon — the AdonisJS + Inertia call, and where I really stand.

communautéadonisjscameroun
read→
FSRS spaced repetition + native Stockfish in React Native
July 10, 2026·2 min

FSRS spaced repetition + native Stockfish in React Native

How I integrated the FSRS algorithm and a native Stockfish engine (no WebView) into an Expo app, with a mock fallback so I can code without a native build.

learning in publicreact nativeexpo
read→
All posts →
$ man brightky

Frequently asked questions

Who I am, what I build, with which tech — and how we can work together.

Who is Brightman Efo'o?

Brightman Efo'o is a Tech Lead and fullstack JavaScript/TypeScript developer based in Douala, Cameroon. He designs and ships web products for French-speaking Africa and documents his move into AI engineering in public.

What kinds of products does he build?

Web products built for the African field: offline-first PWAs, Mobile Money payments (MTN MoMo, Orange Money), commerce over WhatsApp, marketplaces, e-commerce and React Native mobile apps. Concrete examples: TransitSoft (customs-clearance software), iPhone Cameroon (apple.com-style e-commerce) and Chess Coach (a mobile chess app).

What technologies does he master?

On the web: Next.js, React, Node.js, NestJS and TypeScript. On mobile: React Native and Expo. On data: PostgreSQL with Drizzle or Prisma. He also works with LLMs, RAG and agents as part of learning AI engineering.

Where is he based and in which languages does he work?

He is based in Douala, Cameroon, and works in both French and English, with a focus on French-speaking African markets.

How can you contact him or work with him?

By email at brightefoo@gmail.com, on LinkedIn, on WhatsApp, or through the site's contact page for a project request or a quote.

$ subscribe --newsletter

French-speaking AI, decoded. Every week.

A short, no-bullshit note: what I test, what works, what I learn building in public.

$ mailto brightky

A project? A collab? Let's talk.

Whether you want to build a product, benchmark an idea, or just talk AI and dev, my inbox is open.

brightefoo@gmail.comLinkedInGitHub

// or leave me your details

I'll get back to you about opportunities and collaborations that fit your profile. One-click unsubscribe.