If Africa must be part of the 4th industrial revolution, then its young teeming population must acquire the tools of transactions for the 21st Century. To this end, Microsoft is partnering with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to launch the Coding 4 Employment Platform aimed to promote a continuous learning culture among young people and build their capacity to shape the continent’s future.
The ‘Coding for Employment’ digital training platform is an online tool to provide digital skills to African youth, wherever they are across the continent. According to the Director of Human Capital Youth &Skills Development at the African Development Bank Hendrina Doroba, the youth employment and skills development challenge is a complex issue that requires systemic thinking and bold partnerships to address the existing skills gap and link youth to decent and sustainable employment. “The skills training platform is a testament to the impact that such partnerships can achieve and the Bank looks forward to strengthening similar partnerships” She added.
Read also:Africa’s Private Sector Gets $3.5 billion Support from Japan and the AfDB.
The platform teaches technical courses such as web development, design, data science and digital marketing and will be constantly adapted to respond to market demand. It is accessible on mobile devices, even in low internet connectivity settings and has an affordable, easy-to-navigate, secured and private interface.
Ghada Khalifa of Microsoft noted that the launch of the platform is “a defining challenge of our time is ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity to benefit from technology,” he added that “forward-thinking initiatives such as the digital training platform represent our commitment to helping drive the momentum needed. Though there is still much work to be done, we believe that through dynamic partnerships such as these, we can help build a knowledge-based economy in Africa that leaves no person behind.”
Read also: Morocco having ongoing discussions with AfDB on implementing “Desert to Power”
The Coding for Employment Program is a crucial part of the African Development Bank’s strategic agenda to create 25 million jobs by 2025, and to equip 50 million African youth with competitive skills. The Bank piloted the program in five countries (Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire) in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation and Microsoft and is currently developing 14 ultra-modern centers specialized in ICT and entrepreneurship skills training for youth.
Read also:Akinwumi Adesina Wins the 2019 African of the Year Award
The goal is to scale up the program to 130 centers of excellence across the continent over a 10-year period. It will create nine million jobs by building synergies with the public and the private sector globally to deliver demand-driven, agile and collaborative skills to empower young people to become innovative players in the digital economy. The Coding for Employment training platform can be accessed here (https://bit.ly/2P4ePRK) across 54 African countries.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry