Nedbank is introducing the Nedbank DigiSkills online platform. A low bandwidth digital skills training program in partnership with Microsoft and Afrika Tikkun. To help South Africans acquire the in-demand skills needed in a more digital post-COVID-19 economy. It plans to upskill and create sustainable income opportunities for one thousand South Africans by the end of 2021. With plans to scale this number to five thousand in the longer term.
The platform offers five free online courses and learning tracks that lead to roles in software development, data analysis, IT administration, customer service specialist and project management. Participants will undergo an evaluation process after the completion of a learning path. Those who qualify proceed to complete a Microsoft Certification exam.
South Africans over the age of 18, who can read and write English are eligible to participate in the Nedbank DigiSkills training.
Participating in the skills program is easy and here are the steps. First, visit the platform https://www.digiskills.careers and sign up. Enter your mobile number to start the registration process. You will receive an SMS to verify and confirm your mobile number. Then enter your details to complete your profile. Finally, you’ll then have access to the course library. Choose a course and start learning.
Nedbank says exam writing is available at its facilities in major cities across South Africa.
Microsoft South Africa’s partnership with Nedbank is part of Microsoft’s global skills initiative to help people most affected by the pandemic gain in-demand skills to be employable. By offering free online courses across Microsoft, LinkedIn, and GitHub learning platforms. So far over 30 million people across the globe have participated in the program and over a million across Africa. Microsoft is partnering with organizations and governments in Africa to bring this to more people. Offering additional funding and services to make this possible where this is necessary.
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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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Future Ni Digital, an initiative to equip over 50,000 owners of Micro Small Enterprises (MSEs) with relevant digital skills by the end of this year kicks off in Nairobi. With plans to be expanded to multiple counties across the country. The initiative launched earlier this year also plans to put two thousand Kenya youth in jobs by the end of 2021.
Key partners of the Future Ni Digital initiative include the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development (MoITED), the Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA), Stanbic Kenya Foundation, Microsoft Philanthropies and the African Center for Women, Information and Communications Technology (ACWICT).
Speaking at the Kariobangi Center of Excellence during the start of the training, the Chief Administrative Secretary at the Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, Mr. Lawrence Karanja applauded the partners for supporting the government in its efforts to promote digital technologies and ICT. As a way of creating employment opportunities and improving on public service delivery.
Speaking during the event, the CEO of MSEA, Mr. Henry Rithaa said, “Our mission is to create an environment that makes our MSE sector globally competitive, and we are honoured to partner with such noble stakeholders who are appreciative and aligned to meeting this National goal. Continuous skill improvement is key for survival in today’s dynamic market environment, that is why we have come together to address the knowledge and skill gaps in digital literacy that will benefit 50,000 MSEs. This partnership is timely and oriented to the Authority’s strategic direction of focusing key service delivery functions on digitization and innovation to better serve the MSE sector.’’
The Future Ni Digital initiative will offer online digital entrepreneurial skills to assist these MSEs to expand and grow their businesses in the ever-changing digital market. As part of this, 192 trainers have already undergone the requisite training in a bid to kick off the mass training of the entrepreneurs. Stanbic Kenya Foundation and Microsoft Kenya have also deployed an online learning platform to enable learners to access content and further develop their skills.
The trainers are drawn from the Micro and Small Enterprise Authority (MSEA), the Kenya Industrial Business Training, Uasin Gishu and Nakuru counties as well as County Industrial Development Officers from around the country. In total, over 1,000 trainers from different government agencies will be trained to become instructors who will then engage with the various MSE’s and upskill them on how to leverage on online and digital platforms to grow their businesses.
The Stanbic Kenya Foundation donated ten laptop computers to the MSEA Training Center at Kariobangi and are set to donate a total of 400 computers to the other training centers across the country.
Speaking on behalf of the bank, Stanbic Bank Kenya CE, Charles Mudiwa noted, “As a bank, we seek to elevate businesses and individuals and empower them to achieve their dreams. Many enterprises in the country are still struggling to recover from the effects of the global pandemic, and we have seen that having digital skills is key to survival. Building the capacity of Kenyan citizens by providing access to resources and knowledge is in line with our objectives as part of our non-financial support.”
Microsoft Country Manager for Kenya, Kendi Ntwiga said the organization’s involvement in the initiative stems from its mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
“Microsoft has operated in Africa for close to 30 years. In that time, we’ve built strong partnerships across the continent, helped bridge gaps in infrastructure, connectivity, capability, and we are working to assist the continent to digitally transform while creating sustained societal impact,” Kendi said. “It also represents our desire to support the Kenyan talent create innovative solutions for local and global impact while also addressing the existing gap in some of the required digital skills for the new age.”
ACWICT, the implementing partners of the digital program, developed the curriculum for the trainings and are currently rolling out the training sessions with the MSEA members.
Speaking on behalf of the implementing partners, ACWICT Executive Director, Constantine Obuya said, “the goal of this program is to accelerate skilling and employment prospects for 50,000 underserved, out of school youth in Kenya to ensure an inclusive economic recovery post COVID-19 pandemic. The project responds to the challenge of high youth unemployment in Kenya, which has further been compounded by the outbreak of the pandemic. The impact we hope to achieve is a skilled, resilient, and thriving youth effectively optimizing digital opportunities for improved livelihoods”.
MSE’s contribution significantly to economic growth of the country, yet a number of them are still struggling to survive. The digital skilling program aims to address this gap by providing individuals with access to and knowledge of innovate tools for their sustainable development and equal opportunities.
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Microsoft is announcing it has helped over 30 million people in 249 countries and territories acquire digital skills. Out of this, over one million learners across Africa participated in the Microsoft Global Skills program.
The global skills initiative offers free online courses across Microsoft, LinkedIn, and GitHub learning platforms. It seeks to help people, mostly those affected by the pandemic gain in-demand skills to be employable.
Across the Middle East and Africa region, 2.1 million learners have participated in the program. With software development, customer service, project manager and data analysis being the popular learning paths among learners.
The top 10 countries with learners across Africa are South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, Tunisia, Algeria, Ghana, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Comoros, Sao tome and Principe, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles and the Central African Republic are countries with less than 500 learners.
To get more Africans to acquire digital skills, Microsoft is also partnering with organizations and governments. Offering additional funding and services to make this possible where this is necessary.
Microsoft is extending the free LinkedIn Learning and Microsoft Learn courses and low-cost certifications that align to 10 of the most in-demand jobs offer through 2021.
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Over 30.7 million people across the globe have participated in the free Microsoft global digital skills initiative. The company says this sharing an update on the initiative’s progress nine months on.
An increase from the 10 million reached in September last year and surpasses the planned target of 25 million. It also sees the number of participating countries increased from 231 countries and territories to 249.
The United States, India, Brazil, United Kingdom, Mexico, Poland, France, Germany, Canada and Spain account for the to 10 countries with learners.
Microsoft says it is ready to launch the next phase of the project after learning from it. The next phase will see Microsoft help 250,000 companies make a skills-based hire in 2021.
The company announced the Global Skills initiative program at a time when the world was grappling with a pandemic that saw millions of lives affected globally. Microsoft gave people the opportunity to acquire in-demand digital skills across Microsoft Learn, LinkedIn, and GitHub learning platforms.
Among learners, popular courses have been for roles in software development, customer service and data analysts according to Microsoft.
Microsoft is extending the free LinkedIn Learning and Microsoft Learn courses and low-cost certifications that align to 10 of the most in-demand jobs offer through 2021.
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