In July 2018 Microsoft, Facebook and The Rockefeller Foundation partnered with the African Development Bank to announce Coding for Employment. An initiative seeking to bridge the digital skills divide among African youths.
To kick start the program and to celebrate women’s month Microsoft and the African Development Bank(AfDB) have started a month long all-female ICT and digital skills bootcamp on two campuses(Centres of Excellence) in Nigeria. Gombe State University and Covenant University located in Gombe and Ogun States respectively.
“The all-female cohort of the Coding for Employment Program is to increase the number of female coders, accelerate gender equality and empowerment for women and girls in the digital era“. The program “aspires that the all-female cohort will spark an interest in more girls and young women to pursue STEM. That’s encourage them to pursue realizations in STEM related fields“.
The ADB says “the programme acts as an entry point for young female participants who are keen to find jobs within the growing ICT sector. At the end of the course, participants may continue to a more advanced level or simply use their new skills to enhance their job searches.”
AfDB program Task Manager Coding For Employment, Uyoyo Edosio spoke at the launch of the pilot scheme at the Covenant University. She said “In the next 10 years, AfDB will be working at increasing ICT Centres of Excellence in the continent. Creating over 1.9 million jobs. We are building a whole value chain from this launch”
160 young women have ben selected to participate in the month-long all-female coding class in Nigeria.
The partnership between Microsoft and the African Development Bank will continue to focus on increasing the participation of underserved youth and women while equipping youth across Africa with the skills needed to fill jobs now and in the future,” – Ghada Khalifa, Director of Philanthropies for the Middle East and Africa
Under the program so far Microsoft and the AfDB have trained 555 participants in a 3 day Hour of Code campaign. Microsoft has also trained 80 instructors in Nigeria and 60 in Kenya to deliver the basic ICT skills material. The Afbd will be launching an aggregated online training and talent portal with content from LinkedIn Learning.
The coding for employment program, still on a pilot scheme will be rolled out at 14 centres of excellence across Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Ivory Coast and Senegal.
Are you an MBA graduate or an MBA graduating soon? Do you have a finance background? Are you located in South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey or the United Arab Emirates. Do you want to work with a high-tech global leader? Microsoft is recruiting and you can apply to be part of the Microsoft MBA program now.
“As an MBA recruit, you will benefit from a customized on-boarding process, on-going training and mentorship, and the opportunity to fast-track your leadership journey in the company“.
Microsoft says the “MBA program ideally is customized to meet the development and training needs of individuals with up to 7 years of professional experience“.
The program hires full time roles in Sales, Marketing and Services.
Sales roles paths include; Account Executive, Solution Sales Professional, Partner Development Manager, Business Development Manager and Customer Success Manager.
Marketing roles include; Product Marketing Manager and Partner Marketing Advisor.
Services Roles include; Services Account Executive and Digital Advisors.
What are the requirements to the MBA Graduate program?
Pursuing or within six months of graduation from full-time or part-time MBA studies
Exceptional negotiation, customer service, and interpersonal skills
Ability to influence, inspire and lead from any role and great communication skills
Passion for the technology and innovation
Thriving in a fast paced, ambiguous environment
Excellent verbal and written communication, analytical and presentation skills
English language fluency
Depending on country local language fluency might be required
Microsoft opens up its student scholarship program globally. Students in Nigeria can now apply for a Microsoft Tuition Scholarship.
The Microsoft scholarship program is an initiative to encourage students to pursue computer science and related STEM disciplines. Microsoft awards this to students who demonstrate passion for technology, academic excellence and leadership. The award was previously opened to university students in United States, Canada or Mexico.
The scholarship page says;
Welcome to the Microsoft Tuition Scholarship application page! Each year Microsoft awards Tuition Scholarships designed to empower the students that study Computer Science and related STEM(Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) disciplines. We look forward to reviewing your application.
Note: To be eligible for the scholarship, you must be enrolled full time in a bachelor’s degree program at a four year university at the time you submit the application.
If this is an opportunity you’ve been looking for, click to apply and submit your application.
Codess a Microsoft Women event is headed to Kenya with the first event taking place Tuesday, April 16, 2019. From 10 am at the Strathmore University campus in Nairobi, Kenya.
The event invitation reads;
Codess is coming to Kenya! You’re invited to network and hear from an inspiring panel of senior technical women. The event will be a great chance to meet new people, learn from one another and empower each other to think big every day!
Codess is an initiative by women at Microsoft. A community dedicated to sharing the stories of women in technology to promote gender diversity in the engineering field.
It aims to inspire female coders and help them achieve their professional goals. That is through networking events, mentoring, and sharing advice and experiences.
Women at Microsoft programs focus on sparking girls’ interest in technology careers and supporting women-focused initiatives and organizations.
Kenya environment and health reporter, Verah Okeyo, wins Microsoft Modern Journalism and ICFJ Alumni reporting grant program award.
Verah Okeyo is an environment and health reporter at The Daily Nation in Kenya. She is one of the first two Microsoft Modern Journalism grant program award recipients. Her project looks to uncover why child mortality is declining in some Kenyan counties and rising in others.
Microsoft’s Modern Journalism program is a Data Journalism and Immersive Storytelling grant initiative in partnership with International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). The imitative will award grants to alums of ICFJ programs for reporting projects focusing on data journalism and immersive technology. In two phases, there will be the Data Journalism award and the Storytelling award, with two recipients in each category.
Microsoft says it “recognizes not just the fundamental need for a free press., But also the fundamental need for the free press to adapt to how people seek information.”
“How can we help journalists around the world tell stories. From sports updates to watchdog investigations, in ways that promote transparency, understanding and engagement?
The grant program will operate in two phases. The first will award funding and hands-on data journalism training to two alumni of ICFJ programs. The second phase will award grants for funding and training journalists need to pioneer storytelling using immersive technologies like livestreaming and mixed reality.” – Microsoft
ICJF’s Senior Vice President of new initiatives, Sharon Moshavi, talks about the collaboration with Microsoft.
“We’re thrilled to partner with the Microsoft Modern Journalism Initiative. To support reporting projects focused on data analysis and immersive storytelling. Through these projects, we aim to highlight innovative ways that journalists can enhance news coverage and connect more deeply with audiences.”
Child Mortality Project
Verah Okeyo’s data driven investigations will use demographic health surveys, studies and research to track Kenya’s child mortality since 1965. She says “rather than selecting a county or a set of circumstances from the outset, the investigation will follow a meaningful analysis of the available data.”
“Okeyo will work with her colleagues at the Nation Media Group science desk to investigate child mortality trends in Kenya. By pairing demographic data analysis with field reporting at health facilities. She says the team hopes their work will inform ongoing efforts to extend the lifespan of children in the country”. – ICJF
Verah will receive $7,500 and hands-on data visualization training using Microsoft Power BI.
The second part of the grant, Immersive Storytelling is currently opened. It is opened to journalists from all beats who would benefit from immersing audiences in their stories. Click to apply.
