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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Flapmax is launching Fast Accelerator, a startup incubation program in partnership with Microsoft to help strengthen and scale Africa’s digital ecosystem. The accelerator program targets startups building cloud and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technology products and services. It is currently accepting applications from entrepreneurs and innovators to participate in the first cohort.
The first cohort will prioritize business to business (B2B) startups across all industries. With a special interest in healthtech, fintech, edutech, industrial and agritech, sustainability, and deeptech companies. FAST Accelerator startup applicants must be based in Africa. They must have an established product-market fit, be ready to expand within the continent. Applicants must also be available to participate in the full program between March 7 and May 27, 2022.
It will provide direct investment in African tech leaders, says Gerald Maithya, SME and Startups Lead, Africa Transformation Office, Microsoft. Adding that Africa is poised to become the next international technology hub.
“We are excited to partner with Flapmax in our mission of empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The FAST program will provide direct investment in the technology leaders of tomorrow in the region, helping build key infrastructure that uses artificial intelligence as the basis for solutions development.”
The FAST Accelerator program will combine business development, technology integration, funding and community building opportunities. Participants will work with Microsoft engineering team members on co-innovation projects ranging from product integrations to new offerings. Whilst the Flapmax engineering team will help startups apply new technology solutions, including Measure, Coral Imaging, and Fast Portal. Additional perks include up to $250,000 in Azure credits, access to Founders Hub, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365 (including Teams).
“At Flapmax our mission is to enrich the lives of everyone on the planet and make the world more sustainable, using accelerated AI technology,” says Dave Ojika, founder and CEO, Flapmax. “We are proud to partner with Microsoft to make that dream a reality for startup founders committed to strengthening the digital ecosystem in Africa“.
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Microsoft Student Summit Africa (MSSA) is back and is scheduled to take place from 1st to 3rd December 2021. The free three-day virtual conference will seek to upskill and expose students to Microsoft technologies. With learning covering artificial intelligence, cloud computing, Microsoft Power Platform, web development, etc.
The event will have two days of learning with about 20 deep-dive sessions. Learners will form teams and collaborate on projects in a hackathon on the third day and compete to win prizes. Like the previous editions, there will be sessions on recruiting workshops for software engineer and program manager roles.
The Microsoft student summit is open to students in universities and tertiary institutions across Africa and the globe. But only students in Africa will be eligible to participate in the hackathon and win prizes.
Microsoft Africa Development Center is sponsoring the summit and learners will get the opportunity to hear and learn from Microsoft leaders and software engineers.
Click for more information and register your details to participate in the MSSA. Don’t forget to share this post with your friends or anyone who might benefit from this training.
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Microsoft is bringing The Garage program to Africa with sites to be located in Kenya and Nigeria. The company says The Garage Nigeria, in Lagos, is currently in advanced planning stages, as are other Garage locations in Africa. New information reaching us including the search for a Senior Program Manager to lead the program confirms it is close.
The Garage is an extracurricular Microsoft resource for employees to connect, experiment and be creative outside of their day job. But that is not all, it will also be a creative space for hacking and making for the local tech ecosystem and Microsoft customers. Running hackathons, engineering internships, and an experimental outlet for its local students and tech communities.
There are 12 garage sites across the globe with the Africa sites to increase this number to 14. Microsoft could yet still increase this number with possible sites in South Africa, Senegal and Egypt.
I expect each Microsoft Garage site in Africa to have three dedicated lab sections just like all the other global sites. The lab sections will consist of a collaboration hub for hackathons and workshops, a Makerspace and an Advanced Makerspace. The advanced Makerspace will have an electronic workbench, 3D Printers, laser cutter, PCB milling machine for creating prototypes. A Reality Room dedicated to working in the space of Augmented Reality (AR) Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality applications and dedicated space and equipment for doing work on Deep Learning.
Every person at Microsoft has the ability to come up with a good idea. The Garage is here to help.
Jeff Ramos, GM The Garage
The Microsoft Garage in Africa
“The Garage is a program designed to support our employees’ creative ambitions and innovative instincts,” says Jeff Ramos, general manager of The Garage. “Every person at Microsoft has the ability to come up with a good idea. The Garage is here to help our great people shape and develop those ideas. We need a place for people to feel confident to take creative liberties, and that place is The Garage.”
Ramos says Microsoft is going to learn how to do business better worldwide by learning in Africa. Noting that in Lagos, Microsoft sees a tremendous opportunity to learn as a company and as a culture.
For Gafar Lawal, principal group manager at Microsoft ADC Nigeria it will be essential to both tantalize and satisfy employees’ creative curiosities. Adding that the Garage will support employees as they continue to learn at every stage of their careers.
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The African Development Bank, AfDB, is announcing the enrolment of 130,000 users in its Coding for Employment digital skills program. The digital skills training platform was launched in December 2019 in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and Microsoft.
The milestone comes as it works to equip African youth with information and communication technology, entrepreneurship and soft-skills training to compete in a digital economy. The program’s online platforms offer in-demand technical courses such as web development, design, data science and digital marketing for free. It is accessible on mobile devices, even in low internet connectivity settings and has an affordable, easy-to-navigate, secured and private interface. As well as in physical centers of excellence in underserved communities across Africa.
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in lockdowns and school closures across the continent, the Coding for Employment platforms experienced dramatic increases in the number of users. During a one-week period in September 2020, registrations skyrocketed by 38.5%. Through the Bank’s partnership with the Government of Nigeria and Microsoft to launch the Digital Nigeria eLearning platform during the pandemic, it has hit a combined total of 130,000 students. Registered students are achieving a course completion rate of more than 80%.
“To win the battle against poverty in Africa, we must equip our youth with digital skills that empower them for the jobs of the future,” said Martha Phiri, Director of the Bank’s Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development Department.
Students who took the online courses in the wake of Covid-19 in Africa said learning or honing digital skills helped them advance their careers.
“During the lockdown period, I taught myself Microsoft Excel, using the platform. Participating in the training not only smoothed my rough Excel skills but also gave me the platform to network and push myself,” said program graduate Hajara Ayuba in Nigeria.
“Thanks to the program, I met one of the major criteria – data fluency and MS Excel skills – at my present NYSC place of primary assignment in Borno State Board of Internal Revenue Service. I was later retained in the job,” Ayuba added.
“The online training program started in tandem with the opening planned upgrade of physical Coding for Employment-branded Centers of Excellence piloted in Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. The Bank aims to scale up to 130 centers across the continent in a decade.”
“The pandemic accelerated the adoption of online learning as a necessity. Coding for Employment swiftly leveraged its online digital skills platform to continue to offer a gateway for African youth to become more digitally capable,” said Hendrina Chalwe Doroba, the Bank’s Division Manager for Education and Skills Development.
Following the pilot program, Coding for Employment online courses are now available in 45 countries. Some 300 beneficiaries, like Shaawanatu Shuaibu, linked Coding for Employment to getting jobs. Shuaibu a Coding for Employment program graduate from the Gombe State Center of Excellence in Nigeria, said the course had broadened her understanding of content writing.
“I was able to organize the content of my CV, which secured me a call for an interview at Jaiz Bank Plc. My performance at the interview and fluency in communication got me posted to the Customer Service Unit of the Bank,” she added.
The initiative aims to create over 9 million jobs and reach 32 million youth and women across Africa and is part of the AfDB’s Jobs for Youth in Africa Initiative.
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Ecobank, the pan-African banking group, is partnering with Microsoft, LinkedIn, GitHub and Ecobank Academy to train and equip Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) across sub-Saharan Africa. The training will provide SMEs with digital skills and knowledge to reach their full potential. As well as play a vital role in driving Africa’s economic resurgence.
SMEs have been significantly impacted by the COVID19 pandemic with its attendant lockdowns and disruptions to supply chains, plummeting sales, lost revenue and operational challenges. In response to feedback from our customers, Ecobank through its Commercial Banking Segment is helping business owners close the digital skills gap within their chosen fields and improve the digital capabilities of their employees.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has turbocharged the shift towards digital”, says Josephine Anan-Ankomah, Group Executive, Commercial Banking for the Ecobank Group. “It is essential that businesses adapt so that they are able to compete effectively in today’s rapidly changing landscape. Ecobank’s Commercial Banking is committed to supporting SMEs across our pan-African footprint. Through this partnership with Microsoft, LinkedIn, GitHub and Ecobank Academy we are offering training to equip business owners and their employees with the digital skills that they need to stay connected to their customers. We are intent on ensuring that our SME customers remain relevant, grow and succeed in the post-COVID-19 era”, she adds.
SMEs have been invited to register here for the upcoming webinar taking place on July 26. The Global Skilling initiative program is available on an online portal where SMEs can register, and start their learning journey for any of the 10 in-demand skill sets (Customer Services; Digital Marketing; Financial Analysis; Graphic Design; IT Support/Help Desk; Project Management; Sales; Data Analysis; IT Administration; And Software Development). They can complete the virtual programme at their own pace and at times that work best for them. The programme runs until the 31st of December 2021.
Ibrahim Youssry, Regional General Manager, Middle East and Africa – Multi market region at Microsoft says Microsoft is “committed to building digital talent pipelines to support the workforce of the future. And our Global Skilling Initiative is an important part of this process. But beyond the future workforce, digital talent will also support more local innovation, as developers and entrepreneurs are empowered to create locally relevant solutions that best address the challenges and needs of African countries. Startups and SMEs play a critical role in innovation, economic growth and job creation, and expanded access to digital skills is one of the key steps needed to foster a successful economic recovery.”
The Global Skilling Initiative is just another example of how Ecobank wants to help SMEs reach their full potential and play a vital role in driving Africa’s economic resurgence. Other support initiatives for SMEs include:
The Ecobank Marketplace eCommerce solution for businesses to grow their sales on digital marketplaces
And the Ellevate programme to provide women-led/owned/focused businesses with loans, cash management solutions, training and mentoring opportunities.
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