In the new global economy, where technology is front and center, obtaining a future-ready skillset is a necessity for both personal and professional growth and opportunities; Power Learn Project is ensuring the scale of this sector.
Power Learn Project, a Pan African impact organization has announced the launch of its flagship program ‘One Million Developers for Africa’ Scholarship Program (#1MillionDevs4Africa) to train 1 million young people and empower them with tech employability skills.
Africa faces a huge digital skills gap, which is diluting economic opportunities and development. Some 230 million jobs across the continent will require some level of digital skills by 2030, according to a study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
This translates to a potential for staggering 650 million training opportunities and an estimated $130 billion market. And, with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many businesses to go digital to survive, the need for these skills has become glaringly more apparent since 2020.
Ms. Mumbi Ndung’u, Chief Growth & Operations Officer for Power Learn Project, said: “Our goal is to drive transformative change for the youth of Africa through technology skilling. The program will offer online junior software development training, consisting of curated programming languages as well as a soft skills component in employability, and entrepreneurship to enable the learners to acquire entry level smart technology jobs. Through support from partners, the course will be covered on full scholarships, so the learners’ only concern is to learn and absorb as much as they can, as they prepare to navigate the digital revolution with us.”
“Upon completion of the course, the learners will have access to a number of opportunities and alternative educational pathways through the organization, ranging from internships and proof of work opportunities or venture studio and incubator connections if they want to explore entrepreneurship,” Ndung’u continued.
With 70% of Africa’s population between the ages of 18 and 35 and 60% of this group being under-employed or unemployed, the time to invest in digital advancement is now.
The Power Learn Project program will help address this issue by providing accessible world-class tech education to young Africans across six pilot countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Zambia and later to West and North Africa in phase two.
The hybrid junior software development training will be conducted on a user-friendly Learning Management System and will be guided by Power Learn’s expert instructors. The platform will be free data access meaning no cost of data to the learner.
The Power Learn 16 week scholarship program consists of courses:
- Python Programming
- Dart Programming with Flutter
- An introduction to blockchain technologies
- Web technologies (PHP, HTML, JAVA)
- Databases (SQL Programming)
- Employment & Entrepreneurship skills
Learners will earn a certificate upon successful completion of the course and join a community of young skilled Africans ready to take on the digital opportunities.
“We are all working towards the Pan African dream of building relevant capacity to extract value from the fourth industrial revolution. We invite our partners and especially our learners from across Africa, to join us on this journey of transformation,” says John Kamara, chairman of the board – Power Learn Project.