Microsoft 4Afrika rebrands AppFactory initiative to SkillsLab

Microsoft 4Afrika rebrands AppFactory initiative to SkillsLab

Microsoft 4Afrika, Microsoft’s business and market development engine in Africa is rebranding its employability and capacity building programme, AppFactory to SkillsLab.

The SkillsLab programme will as before, develop digital skills, coding capabilities and workplace readiness of young university graduates. As well as give them priority access to jobs through the Microsoft Partner Network at the end of their training.

Seven years on, Microsoft notes the initiative has about 2073 graduates from 19 SkillsLabs across the Middle East Africa region. It also boasts of 85% employment rate achieved within three months of graduating.

Africa has a unique opportunity to be a skills hub for the world.

Amrote ABDELLA

“Outpacing the rate of change driven by emerging technologies, there is a need for nimble and continued learning opportunities that can derive tangible benefits” says Amrote Abdella, Regional Director, Microsoft 4Afrika.

“Through its skilling initiatives Microsoft aims to address these challenges by skilling and upskilling individuals to adequately seize these opportunities,” she continues.

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Microsoft 4Afrika, Africa Digital Media Institute open game and mobile app development AppFactory in Nairobi, Kenya

Microsoft 4Afrika, Africa Digital Media Institute open game and mobile app development AppFactory in Nairobi, Kenya

Africa Digital Media Institute

Africa Digital Media Institute partners with Microsoft to open Kenya’s 3rd AppFactory.

Microsoft launched its 18th Africa skills development AppFactory academy in Nairobi today. The 3rd in Kenya after the Mawingu Network and the United States International University AppFactory.

This 3rd one is in partneship with Africa Digital Media Institue(ADMI), a digital media and technology training institute. The partnership will see ADMI establish a dynamic apprenticeship platform for mobile application and game development students.

Microsoft 4Afrika Regional Director Amrote Abdella, said this at the launch of the AppFactory. “Students will acquire skills in programming, cloud computing, and data analytics to address the mismatch of skills in the games and mobile application market.”

Africa Digital Media Institute founding director Wilfred Kiumi shared that “Globally, game development had estimated revenues of $137.9 billion in 2018 and in Kenya, it is predicted that the revenues will be over $31 million by 2022.” He talked about the excitement to launch a new era for skills development and youth empowerment.

The AppFactory academy will be hosted at the ADMI Africa campus in Nairobi. It will also be the first AppFactory to focus on equipping graduates with skills for the gaming sector.

Microsoft East Africa signs MoU with Ministry of ICT & National Guidance Uganda

Microsoft East Africa signs MoU with Ministry of ICT & National Guidance Uganda

Microsoft signs MoU with Ministry of ICT & National Guidance Uganda

MoU with Ministry of ICT

Microsoft has signed a partnership with the Ugandan ministry of ICT in what it calls strategic. The partnership, Microsoft says aims to create a sustainable, scalable project and initiatives that will leverage Microsoft technologies. The Uganda Ministry of ICT and National Guidance also believes the MoU with Microsoft will help support Ugandan Innovators under their National ICT Initiatives Support Program.

Microsoft EA has signed a strategic MoU with Ministry of ICT & National Guidance UG that aims to create sustainable, scalable project & initiatives that will leverage Microsoft technologies & expertise to transform Uganda’s innovation landscape for socio-economic development.” Angela Nganga – Government Affairs Lead Middle East and Africa, Microsoft

Uganda’s Ministry of ICT says one of the objectives for signing the MOU is to “support the development of next generation applications“. It hope to achieve this, “by building technical expertise that spur innovation through initiatives such as the Microsoft App Factory Program“.

Uganda’s National ICT Initiatives Support Programme (NIISP) was setup to facilitate the creation of an ICT Innovation ecosystem and marketplace for Ugandan innovative digital products. The NIISP also aims at facilitating growth and development of the software applications and innovations industry in Uganda. 

Microsoft opens AppFactory in Botswana

Microsoft opens AppFactory in Botswana

Microsoft opens first AppFactory in Botswana, and 17th in Africa. 

 

AppFactory in Botswana

The first Botswana Microsoft 4Afrika AppFactory has been announced at Innovation Botswana 2018. This brings the total number of AppFactories across the continent to 17th. Botswana becomes the 11th country to benefit from this initiative to empower Africa’s young developers with skills and modern technologies. Others can be found in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, etc.

Microsoft has said working with partners across Africa they share what they’ve learned by creating a franchise program using the AppFactory. “We help them train modern developers who become experienced software engineers thereby bridging the huge demand”.  

Speaking at the event Microsoft 4Afrika’s regional director said this was one of many engagements in the Country. 

The AppFactory will help to equip ICT graduates in Botswana with critical skills to secure jobs, or start their own businesses. This is one of the many engagements we will have in Botswana ” — Amrote Abdella, Regional Director, Microsoft 4Afrika.  

Software Developer Internship at Microsoft AppFactory, Johannesburg

Software Developer Internship at Microsoft AppFactory, Johannesburg

Microsoft 4Afrika AppFactory Software Developer Internship Opportunity in Johannesburg, South Africa 

Software Developer Internship

Microsoft’s AppFactory is looking for software developer interns in Johannesburg. The 4Afrika AppFactory initiative tries to bridge the gap of Africans who understand and use modern technologies and platforms. Thus making them highly employable with modern developer and digital skills in this era of digital transformation.

The internship offer will be a learning and development curve that’ll most probably also end with a placement. The offer says;

“The AppFactory is an internship programme that recruits young developers. Helps them gain vital work experience while building fun and clever apps. Young up-and-coming developers will gain real-world experience to prepare them for the workplace. Making it easier for them to find jobs and giving them more to offer their prospective employers.

The Microsoft AppFactory internship programme offers Africa’s technology enthusiasts and graduates the initial hands-on experience they need to succeed as professional software developers – able to design, develop, implement, and manage successful software solutions for a Cloud First, Mobile First world.”

“We’re looking for an intern who is passionate about modern coding practices, Object-Oriented coding & writing clean code and already have a good understanding of full-stack development to join our team. By that, we mean a person who is interested in working in both front-end technologies (such as Angular) as well as backend frameworks (such as ASP.NET) and mobile frameworks (such as Cordova or Xamarin).”

Find out more about the Software Developer Internship opportunity and click apply now if you qualify to participate.