(4 minutes read)
· Microsoft 4Afrika has partnered with Pan-African EdTech company, talent marketplace Gebeya Inc. and the Technology and Innovation Institute, Ethiopia (TechIn) to launch its first virtual SkillsLab in Ethiopia
· This is part of the initiatives of the two outfits to build digital skills capacity, employability, and close the skills gap of the African continent
Microsoft 4Afrika has partnered with Pan-African EdTech company, talent marketplace Gebeya Inc. and the Technology and Innovation Institute, Ethiopia (TechIn) to launch its first virtual SkillsLab in Ethiopia. This is part of the initiatives of the two outfits to
build digital skills capacity, employability, and close the skills gap of the African continent
Experts predict that the cooperation between the two entities will bridge the digital gap between Africa and the rest of the world. It
will also shore up the employability of the young Africans, who would face the threat of job losses on account of the automation triggered by artificial intelligence. According to the estimates of the World Economic Forum, these two technologies –AI and automation driven platforms- alone could displace 75 million jobs by 2022, while creating another 133 million new roles as companies rework the
division of labor between humans and machines.
Since the low skilled people may have to face the brunt of displacement, as new technologies drive people out of jobs. There is a need to up-skill and re-skill people in order to stay competitive. This is particularly true in Africa where a skills gap persists. According to the WEF survey, a good number of African business leaders are concerned about the availability of key skills in the
continent.
Through the SkillsLab programme, the two organizations will provide apprenticeship-based training to 200 African software engineers, where they will work with experienced software engineers over the course of up to six months.
This will help students to develop essential workplace skills and provide them with practical experiences, leveraging emerging
technologies to develop innovative technology solutions. The classes for the selected candidates will be taken though the virtual medium and once the classes are complete, apprentices will have priority access to jobs through the Microsoft Partner Network.
