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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Ola, first from left – with female Software Engineers admitted into Microsoft LEAP Engineering Acceleration Program in Nigeria
Ola ‘Olatomiwa‘ Williams assumes the new role of Microsoft country manager for Nigeria. Formerly serving as the Director of Microsoft Cloud and Digital Transformation Solutions for Microsoft’s Multi-Country Cluster region. She will now lead the organization’s efforts to accelerate Nigeria’s Digital transformation and cloud adoption. As well as identify new opportunities, mobilize internal organization resources and external stakeholders.
Ola shares “It’s a great honour to be taking on this exciting journey. At a time when the organisation is focused on growing and accelerating Africa’s transformation. I am very optimistic of where Africa is headed and how we have a unique opportunity to use technology to really transform the lives and businesses in this region.” she adds.
Ola joined Microsoft in 2010 as the Enterprise Voice Technology Specialist. She has since held various positions including Partner Technology Manager, Dynamics Partner Sales Executive and Account Technology Strategist. Ola has over 21 years of Information technology experience which spans through Solution implimentation, Solution Sales and Channels Management.
We must burst all stereotypes that link science to masculinity and encourage girls to embrace Science & Technology’
Ola WIlliams
New Microsoft Nigeria country manager, Ola Williams, takes over the role previously held by Akin Banuso. Akin will take on the new role of Enterprise Commercial Lead for Middle East and Africa Multi market region. It is not yet clear if Ola’s responsibilities will also include being country manager of Ghana.
“I’m proud of the significant contributions Akin has put in to accelerate the transformation journey of our customers in Nigeria. I’m thrilled that Ola will bring her unique expertise to take the country to new heights and also play a part in the larger leadership team to design how we address Africa’s business landscape.”
Microsoft’s Middle East and Africa – Multi market region’s General Manager, Ibrahim Youssry,
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Dynamics 365 Business Central the Microsoft business management solution for small and mid-sized organizations (SMBs) is coming to Africa and the Middle East. The solution will launch in Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon over this month.
Dynamics 365 Business Central lets SMBs automate and streamline their business operations. By connecting their financials, sales, services, shipping, manufacturing, project management, operations and more to improve customer interactions.
Maher Al-Khaiyat, Regional Business Applications Director for Microsoft MEA Emerging Markets, says what businesses get with Business Central is an end-to-end view of their operations. With built-in intelligence when and where they need it. He notes that the application is easy to tailor and extend to meet any unique business or industry-specific needs.
“With digital transformation now a necessity, SMBs are seeking cost-effective, streamlined systems that will make their transition seamless. Multiple, disconnected systems are now easily combined under one secure, centralised application. Using Dynamics 365 Business Central, efficiency is boosted through automated tasks and workflows. All from within familiar Office tools like Outlook, Word, and Excel.”
Maher Al-Khaiyat
The new solution will launch in Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon over this month AL-Khaiyat adds.
Business Central is easy to integrate with applications like payroll, banking apps, or custom APIs. It has the same consistent and secure experience across all devices no matter where teams are accessing the application from.
SMEs will be able to deploy Dynamics 365 Business Central in either the cloud, on-premise, or with a hybrid approach. No matter the requirements for data residency, compliance, or security, companies can run their business wherever and however needed.
Business Central was previously known as Dynamics NAV. The solution is now a SaaS and comes in the Dynamics 365 suite.
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The Federal government (FG) of Nigeria is announcing the indefinite suspension of the operations of Twitter in Nigeria. This announcement comes after Twitter also removed tweets shared by President Buhari and suspended his account for 12 hours.
In a press release, also shared on the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture’s Twitter account, it “cites the persistent use of the platform [Twitter] for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence” as the reason for the suspension. The FG is also directing the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to “commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.”
Twitter users in Nigeria are already looking to use VPNs to bypass the blackout if implemented by internet service providers in Nigeria.
Amnesty International Nigeria and other nonprofit legal and advocacy groups are calling the move illegal. And an infringement on the freedom of expression and access to information rights of Nigerians.
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It is a virtual hands-on workshop and will take place from the 3rd to the 7th of May 2021.
The company says its goals are to help participants deepen their technical knowledge and sharpen their interview skills. It will also give them an opportunity to network and interact with Microsoft female software engineers.
Business Program Manager at Microsoft Nigeria, Princess Anya says this workshop is for you if you applied for a software engineering role in a top technology organization and couldn’t get the position.
To participate in the workshop check out the eligibility requirements from the application page. Some are to have a year and above experience in programming, be a resident of Nigeria or Ghana.
Don’t forget to kindly share this with anyone in your network who might benefit from this workshop.
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