Unleashing Africa's Next Generation of Digital Innovators
The African Development Bank together with The Rockefeller Foundation, Microsoft, and Facebook have launched the Coding for Employment Program during the African Innovation Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
The program will prepare the youth for tomorrow's jobs through a demand-driven Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curriculum and then match graduates directly with ICT employers.
This comes inline with African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) strategy (2016-2025). The bank targets that by 2025, the Job for Youths in Africa Initiative will equip more than 50 million youth with employable skills and create 25 million jobs in agriculture, ICTs and other related indusctries.
Jobs in Youth in Africa Strategy
The Jobs in Youth in Africa Strategy has selected three flagship programs of priority and high potential: agriculture, industrialization, and ICT. The respective program models outline the rational, project components and intended outcomes. For example in agriculture, the ENABLE Youth (Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment) program helps young African men and women to incubate and scale-up their agri-businesses; the programme is implemented in 11 countries with a total investment of US$830 million.
Meanwhile, the Rockefeller Trust Fund concerns the ICT pillar and enhances the digital and ICT skills of youth in i) Computational Thinking Flagship Program and ii) the Coding for Employment Flagship Program. It is the latter that was recently launched in Kigali.
Coding for Employment Flagship Program
The program will help young people in africa to achieve their full potential. The following comments were made at the launch of this program
“Coding for Employment accelerates investments in Africa’s most valuable resource – its young women and men. That’s why The Rockefeller Foundation is thrilled to join forces with the African Development Bank to help every young African reach their full potential. Our partnership with the African Development Bank will establish 130 Centers of Excellence across Africa to help bridge the gap between the digital hiring news of employers and the skills of Africa’s youth,” Mamadou Biteye, OBE, The Rockefeller Foundation’s Managing Director for Africa.
“We are excited to partner with the African Development Bank on the launch of the coding for employment program in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda and Senegal. Coding for Employment ensures digital skills are accessible to young people and supports youth with securing meaningful opportunities where they can apply their talents, ideas and expertise to advance the continent’s economic and social development,” Sherry Dzinoreva, Head of Policy Programs at Facebook.
- Read the full news here
- Related sources: Jobs for Youth in Africa