Safaricom is partnering with technology sector partners such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon(AWS) to launch the Digital Talent Program to address talent supply shortage and mismatch and create a sustainable talent pipeline to position Kenya as the leading hub for tech talent in Africa. The program plans to upskill 1,000 participants based on the digital skills currently in high demand in its first year.
The Safaricom Digital Talent program seeks to develop digital skills in the market by taking a sustainable approach to creating a healthy digital talent pipeline. It will focus on nine priority skill areas; UI/UX design; Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; IoT; Big Data and Analytics; Cyber Security; Cloud Computing; Fintech; Robotics Process Automation; and Software Engineering.
The program will be delivered through a hybrid approach including classroom learning, mentorship, and internships for the experiential part of the learning. It will also involve hackathons, fireside chats, guest lecture sessions, incubation, career fairs, annual awards, curriculum reviews, placements, and certifications.
We believe that Africa should not only be a consumer of technology but also a hub for local talent, says Catherine Muraga Microsoft Africa Development Center Managing Director. “We can make a contribution to shaping and innovating the world. Kenya has a huge talent pool of competent and capable developers. That is why Microsoft and other tech companies are setting up their Africa operations here“, she adds.
The Safaricom Digital Talent Program has 30 partners including Microsoft, Google, IBM, Huawei, Oracle and Dell. It also includes 6 Universities, 14 Training Partners, 5 Tech-Hubs and community organizations, 7 Government agencies and 14 industry players.
Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom CEO, notes the program is to position Kenya as the leading hub for tech talent in Africa.
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I’ve always wanted to improve my skills as a developer. I knew that the best people are at companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook. I’ve always wanted the kinds of challenges they represent. I always wanted to work with people who would wow me and teach me at the same time. When I heard that Microsoft had come to Kenya, I knew that “this is my chance”.
This is the story of George Maina, a Software Engineer at the Microsoft Africa Development Center (ADC-East) located in Nairobi, Kenya. He is one of the first hires of Microsoft and works on the Identity and Network Access team in Kenya.
Even though the ADC was an experiment the success of George’s team in the early days will go on to help Microsoft make investing more in the ADC an easy decision. The ADC has grown from 21 employees in three teams to over 400 in more than eight teams in three years. With Microsoft launching a 27 million dollar office facility to house the software engineers.
Geroge works for the Microsoft Graph onboarding team, which is the third team to be formed at the ADC. “Right now, we’re four people, we help teams within Microsoft to onboard onto Graph and to manage their Graph deployments. … My role is to develop tooling to make sure we can automatically link their API when they publish it to our repo.”
I think we were the very first team to join Identity here, and we all came on the same day. There were then three teams at Microsoft’s Africa Development Center (ADC) in Nairobi. Each team had around seven people, making a total of 21. One team came aboard just a week before my team. At that time, it was not really clear where ADC was going. But it turned out really well. We’ve gotten our footing and have developed specialized areas. Several teams are now owners of certain operations within Microsoft. ADC has grown to around 400 just here in Kenya alone. That’s a testament to how well ADC has performed.
I remember when you came to visit, Igor, you said that you’d evaluate the operation after a few years, that it was an experiment. I remember going home that night thinking, wow, what happens if this fails?
I’ve learned so much. The last two years have blown my mind. I love working here and really love Microsoft. Microsoft offers so many opportunities everywhere.
George Maina
Igor Sakhnov, Microsoft Corporate vice president of Identity and Network Access Engineering, talks with software engineer George Maina about his entrepreneurial journey and the beginnings of the Microsoft ADC. Click to read the full conversation.
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Microsoft is announcing the Developer Cloud Summit: Middle East and Africa 2022 technical conference scheduled to take place March 30, 2022. At 12 PM – 16:30 PM (GMT+4). The event will bring together speakers from across Microsoft, GitHub and the developer community. Where it will provide deep-dive learning opportunities and hands-on experience on trending and innovative platforms in the cloud.
The Developer Cloud Summit topics include Cloud Native futures, AI-based applications, Remote DevOps practices, Rapid Innovation methodology and best practices on modernizing legacy .Net & Java applications with new cloud capabilities. Learn about app migration and modernization, low code apps, coding in the cloud, GitHub Copilot and many more. There will also be a party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the .Net platform.
Stormy Peters, VP of Communities GitHub will talk about “lessons we learned working with Open Source at Microsoft”. Whilst Jeff Hollan, Director of Product, Azure Apps, Microsoft, will dive into “build scalable apps faster than ever before”. Other speakers include Adir Ron, Cloud Application & Innovation, Middle East & Africa, Microsoft.
Microsoft says that an ecosystem of developers, innovators and open-source communities are teaming up to build together the future of technology in the current Cloud-Native era.
Click to visit the Cloud Summit: Middle East & Africa 2022 technical conference page for more details and to register.
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Black and Brilliant is partnering with Codecademy to launch the second edition of the AI Accelerator Africa program. The free 10-week applied Artificial Intelligence (AI) bootcamp will focus on upskilling in data science, programming and data engineering, and user experience. Program participants will use Codecademy’s self-guided, hands-on learning platform for the courses.
The program will provide participants with mentorship from industry leaders and subject experts from global companies. Google, Fujitsu, and Shopify mentors will guide on topics like user experience, ethics and bias, and the business of AI.
Applications for the AI Accelerator Africa 2022 bootcamp open March 1st. It will start on 14th March through to May 16th 2022. The course will have small group discussions and panels as well as one-on-one sessions with coaches. The program is open to everyone irrespective of their professional or educational background. It is however giving higher priority to people with previous experience with Python in this cohort.
The Black and Brilliant Advocacy Network is working with Codecademy to bring the program to Africa and empower a new generation of tech talent in the region.Noting “We want to on-ramp people who have potential to be the next generation of AI Superstars – regardless of their backgrounds or educational attainment. From people that did not graduate High School but acquired coding skills along the way, to those with advanced STEM degrees looking to change lanes.”
The program is a chance to kill two birds with one stone says Tony Effik, co-founder of Black and Brilliant. He tells TechRepublic it will help blacks get higher-paying AI jobs and make AI less discriminatory towards communities of color. Effik adds that there is also a need for artificial intelligence capacity building across Africa. Telling ZDNet that talented young African technologists need to be better supported.
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Microsoft Africa Development Center is organizing a free virtual event as part of its ADC’s user group series themed Azure Developers Connect for Developers and Software Engineers in Africa scheduled to hold on the 24th of February, 2022. Time 3 PM GMT, 4 PM WAT, 5 PM SAT, 6 PM EAT.
The event which would be held virtually is targeted at Azure user groups & communities, developers, engineers, working professionals; Tech communities in West Africa and Kenya in a bid to expose them to the many capabilities of Azure for building next-gen apps and driving global transformation as a developer or software engineer in Africa.
Developers and software engineers would enjoy practical sessions with Top Azure experts, as well as get insights into existing cloud features, they never knew were in existence. Speakers at the event will include Scott Hunter (VP DIR Program Management, Azure Applications, Microsoft), Matt Soucoup (Senior Cloud Advocate, Microsoft), Donald Okafor (Principal Software Engineering Lead, Microsoft ADC), Kehinde Ladipo (Software engineer, Microsoft ADC).
Panel discussions will also feature Adora Nwodo (Software Engineer, Microsoft ADC), Olaitan Adeboye (Software Engineer, Microsoft ADC), Samuel Adranyi (Senior Software Engineer, Mekorma), Frank Odoom (Software Consultant, Accede) and other Microsoft ADC software Engineers.
Topics: – 5 career paths you can explore as an Azure Software Engineer, – How to become a software engineer at the Microsoft ADC, – Leveraging Azure for continuous deployment & integration.
Microsoft Azure is Microsoft’s public cloud computing platform that provides a wide range of cloud services such as computing, analytics, networking, and storage. Microsoft Azure helps developers and software engineers to develop new applications or even upscale existing applications with its various cloud services. The public cloud computing platform is flexible and open which makes it globally recognized to developers and software engineers due to its reliability.
The Azure developers connect event will also serve as a great way for developers and software engineers to network with other Azure professionals in the field.
Developers and Software Engineers in Africa can book their seat by registering with the link https://aka.ms/AzureDevelopersConnect to get in-depth knowledge about exploring the Microsoft Azure Platform and its existing features whilst they prepare to build next-gen apps that would drive global transformations.
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Microsoft is committing to training ten thousand software developers in South Africa by the end of 2022. By giving them an opportunity to learn new and modern skills as well as access to the latest technologies. This is in an effort to help in building the local software developer community in the country.
Microsoft will through skilling programs and initiatives upskill developers so that they can add value within informal developer communities as well as across commercial and corporate environments.
“At Microsoft, we understand the power of community says Lillian Barnard, General Manager at Microsoft South Africa. “And appreciate the value these shared spaces can bring to employees, businesses, and, ultimately, the world“, she adds.
Lillian notes that when organizations like Microsoft work together with developer communities to overcome skills gaps the result is creativity and more innovation. Developers with access to the latest technologies and skills result in an acceleration of the digital transformation of businesses.
“When we build thriving developer communities, …, we also create innovations that have a societal impact and that have the potential to change lives.”
Lillian Barnard, Microsoft South Africa MD
Microsoft didn’t throw light on how or who it will partner with to execute this project. However, in previous campaigns, it has worked with developer communities such as the Andela Learning Community, Geekulcha, and other groups.
