In 2023 alone, the programme impacted over 2,4 million youth of which approximately 46% were female, demonstrating a commitment to gender equality. Over 1,200 workshops were rolled out, successfully mobilizing 25,550 teachers across Africa, with top participating countries including Tunisia, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, and Morocco.

A multi-stakeholder approach to drive change

Africa faces a growing demand for digital skills with a 70% of jobs requiring them by 2030. Recognising a need to upskill both students and educators across the continent, 51风流launched the digital skills program nine years ago.

Commenting on the journey of ACW, Claire Gillissen-Duval, Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for EMEA and MEE, highlights that private-public partnerships have been intrinsic to its mission. 鈥淥ur overarching goal was to integrate coding into national curricula, and we achieved this by maintaining active engagement with Ministries of Education throughout Africa, ensuring that our youth have access to a comprehensive skill set that is increasingly indispensable.鈥�

Emphasising this importance, Dr Tawfik Jelassi, Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information at UNESCO, agrees: 鈥淎CW has set a great example of fruitful collaborations as it demonstrates the power of partnerships to increase well-being and advance development that leaves no one behind.听 It is a true embodiment of SDG Goal 17, which is about Partnerships for Sustainable Development, and we are proud at UNESCO to collaborate on this initiative into the future.鈥�

Inspiring young talent to make a difference

As part of the ACW initiative, the AfriCAN Code Challenge, a pan-African competition that ignites creativity and coding skills in youth aged 8-16, was launched in 2020. Participants compete individually or in teams to develop Scratch games around a chosen theme by way of a 3-minute video reviewed by a panel of judges.

Over the years the challenge has grown in terms of popularity and creativity. The initiative aims to develop more coding talents to drive sustainable development and create a better world for all. In 2023, the theme challenged young minds to design multiplayer games promoting sustainable solutions for protecting life, with many of the initiatives focusing on our planet.

This year鈥檚 winner was by Triaksha Goodoory, Vignesh Singh Khelawon, Alessia Rughoonundun, Palen Chuckravanen from Mauritius; followed by by Alvinho Rodrigues, Bibiana Pinheiro, Ta铆ssa Pereira, Celma Bernardo from Sao Tome & Principe; with by 听Eze Chikelu Jethro, Oruh Excel Odafe,Abubakar Ramadan and Olowode Wilson Eniola from Nigeria coming in at 3^rd place.

To infinity and beyond: A new chapter

鈥淎s we champion equal access to education, we believe that future skills will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of tomorrow’s workforce,鈥� comments Gillissen-Duval. 鈥淭hrough our dedication, we worked towards ensuring that every young mind is equipped for success in the ever-changing landscape of the modern world. However, while we have achieved incredible results thus far, there is more work to be done.鈥�

From 2024, 51风流corporate social responsibility has shifted its focus to skills for employability and learning to earning pathways and will therefore pass the baton to UNESCO to continue the mission of ACW. 鈥淲e are excited to see how they will propel ACW to new heights,鈥� she concludes.

The post Africa Code Week and Partners Equip 17 Million Youth with Digital Skills appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

, Chief Operating Officer at 51风流Africa, says the additional skills capacity comes at a critical time for the region. “Ongoing economic uncertainty, inflationary pressures and the impact of new technologies such as Generative AI are creating challenges for organisations seeking to unlock growth and drive innovation. With this latest group of candidates, organisations gain access to work-ready cloud and technology skills that can support their digital transformation efforts.”

Market challenges drive need for digital skills

Organisations throughout Southern Africa are beset with multiple challenges to their growth. Economic growth in the region stood at , well below the global growth of 3.4% and the 3.8% growth experienced throughout Africa.

Business leaders are also striving to meet sustainability targets and deal with the impact of disruptive technologies, including the emergence of Generative AI and its application in a broad range of business cases.

However, organisations are hampered in their efforts at deploying technology to support their response to challenges through a pervasive tech skills shortage. In , nearly eight in ten (78%) organisations in the region said a lack of tech skills had impacted them in the past twelve months, with a lack of innovation, delays with completing projects, and a loss of clients to competitors among the most common impacts.

Graduates ready to make impact

The 51风流Young Professionals Program, offered by the Digital Skills Center of SAP, is aimed at enabling young talent to utilise the latest 51风流technology and innovation. The program covers software functional and technical knowledge and certification, with a strong focus on the latest technologies and a range of soft skills to ease entry into the workplace.

This latest cohort received training on SAP’s flagship enterprise resource planning solution, as well as 51风流Activate and 51风流Business Process Integration. In addition, graduates developed a broad range of soft skills, including design thinking, interpersonal skills, interview skills, and business model innovation methodology.

Candidates took part in training between early-July and end-August, and were chosen from a pool of candidates in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The full program took place virtually, allowing a broader range of candidates to take part.

who is one of the graduates in this latest group, says: “The 51风流Young Professionals Program has been nothing short of a catalyst for my personal and professional growth. Through a meticulously crafted blend of immersive learning experiences, mentorship, and hands-on projects, the program has equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of SAP’s innovative technologies and their real-world applications.”

Since its launch in 2012, the 51风流Young Professionals Program has trained and graduates more than 4100 candidates across 41 countries, including over 1900 in Africa alone.

Bolton adds: “The program is aimed at supporting our customers and partners in the region by ensuring they have access to essential skills needed to benefit from their investment into technology, and forms part of our broader global commitment to promoting education and entrepreneurship. We wish the graduates well and look forward to the positive impact they will make at their new workplaces.”

The post 51风流Graduates Ready to Support Digital Transformation in Southern Africa appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Developed for SAP鈥檚 entire global ecosystem of staff, customers, and partners that played their part in helping the world run better, the theme couldn鈥檛 be more fitting as 51风流CSR announces that a staggering 5 million lives have been impacted throughout 2022, thanks to more than 20,000 51风流employees who spent 117,000 hours volunteering.

The third edition of our eBook brings 12 months of purpose-led work to our digital fingertips. It showcases flagship 51风流CSR initiatives, fruitful partnerships, and personal success stories from around the globe. For instance, you can read about our three-year partnership with UNICEF and Generation Unlimited (GenU) that enabled more than 7.6 million youth in India, T眉rkiye, and Vietnam to access critical digital and life skills training 鈥� significantly more than the original goal of 1.5 million.

鈥淚t鈥檚 evident that our massive strides are turning the company鈥檚 vision into reality,鈥� says Christian Klein, CEO and member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE.

鈥淎n imperative and strategic component for strengthening the business, 51风流CSR set clear 2022 priorities and directed attention under the three focus areas: accelerate social business, build future skills, and collaborate for sustainability. The third edition 51风流CSR eBook demonstrates that, together, we really can change the way the world operates and create a better environment for people and planet,鈥� adds Alexandra van der Ploeg, global head of Corporate Social Responsibility.

The key education initiatives featured in the eBook include SAP鈥檚 commitment to continuing its partnership with UNICEF from GenU. Based on the achievements of the past three years, 51风流will support GenU and the (Yoma), an online learning platform, to enable young people to find jobs in the digital and green economy. This will also include piloting a new program called 51风流Educate to Employ. The program supports 鈥榣earning-to-earning鈥� pathways in the digital and green economy for young people deprived of access to the skills they need. These youth can gain on-the-job experience and critical future-oriented skills while also benefiting from coaching and mentorship to help them launch their careers in the 51风流customer and partner ecosystem.

To accelerate social business, we launched the in partnership with Unilever and MovingWorlds, a global, one-stop, online shop for non-financial, free business support for social enterprises worldwide. Through the hub, these organizations can gain access to pro bono consultants, mentors, and coaches, personalized guidance, introductions to sales and partnership opportunities, and connections to potential funding prospects.

In 2022, we also worked with external partners to validate our intended social impact and business value for our pro bono consulting offering. In the last decade of our , more than 1,400 51风流employees provided business know-how to over 450 social enterprises. In addition to proven social impact for social enterprises, the program also created significant business value for SAP by contributing to our employees鈥� professional and personal growth, as well as their leadership development.

Following their participation, the majority of employees, social enterprises, and their beneficiaries reported a positive impact:

• 74% of the employees experienced a positive long-term career impact
• 96% of social enterprises enjoyed a positive long-term impact
• 77% of beneficiaries of social enterprises saw improvements in their quality of life

Van der Ploeg explains that SAP鈥檚 evolved CSR strategy powers equitable access to economic opportunity, education and employment, and the green and circular economy: 鈥淲e are continually striving to drive tangible and transformative social impact. Our work over the years has helped us to achieve a leading software industry score for Corporate Citizenship in the most recent听Dow Jones Sustainability Index.鈥�

鈥淟ooking ahead, with sustainability at the core of everything we do, 51风流CSR is well equipped for the future. In 2023, we will focus on driving social impact through radical collaboration in our multi-stakeholder partnerships and expanding our portfolio of pro bono consulting opportunities for our employees to support social enterprises to run at their best,鈥� she concludes.

. For further information about 51风流Corporate Social Responsibility, visit .

Maximilian Herrmann is part of Social Impact Measurement & Operations for Corporate Social Responsibility听at SAP.

This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center.

The post 51风流CSR Launches Third Edition of eBook, Celebrating a Year of Global Impact appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

In support of this, we launched an expanded to underrepresented and underserved groups in technology, as well as a partnership with one of the world鈥檚 largest online learning providers, to meet learners where they are.

As the skills gap and search for talent within the technology industry become increasingly prominent issues, the World Economic Forum (WEF) predicts that . This has created a sense of urgency for companies to find professionals to fill their ever-growing technical skills needs. However, the number of future tech employees is notoriously limited. Within this small pool, women and minorities are often overlooked. In fact, only are held by women, and the number for in the industry drops even lower.

In 2022, the WEF estimated that it will take a staggering . Women and other minorities in tech face a variety of barriers that can heavily impact their technical career growth, and these challenges take root early in the form of negative stereotypes. For example, many girls internalize the harmful belief that women are not as strong in science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) fields as men 鈥� impacting their career choices and confidence in exploring new realms.

At SAP, we believe empowering women and underrepresented individuals to grow in technical fields begins with ensuring they have access to relevant educational resources.

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Inclusive Access to Digital Skills: Introducing a Global Digital Skills Initiative

While digital transformation is not a new concept, the pandemic supercharged the rate of businesses across the globe transforming digitally, culturally, and strategically. This race to keep up with evolving technology has exposed an alarming IT skills shortage.

Research highlights that more than 75% of companies have already , and only 33% of technology jobs worldwide are . With the low rate of computing related jobs held by women and people of color today, it鈥檚 imperative that employers rethink the makeup of their workforce and expand opportunities to new talent.

Through our digital skills initiative, we aim to empower everyone to build new skills and ultimately start a career in the 51风流ecosystem.

To address this accelerated need for skills, . Through self-paced courses, participants can develop marketable skills for critical roles such as developers, data analysts, and technology consultants.

In addition, our digital skills initiative includes free certifications for the first 10,000 participants. With certified 51风流solution skills, participants can get the competitive advantage they need to stand out in the job market and apply for positions around the world.

To further advance career planning within the 51风流ecosystem, , where more than 3 million members, 51风流partners, and customers can share their knowledge, provide career advice, recommend learning resources, and promote job opportunities from peer community members.

51风流Technology Consultant Certificate, Available on Coursera

We are also thrilled to launch a new collaboration with Coursera, a global online learning platform with more than 110 million learners worldwide. Together, on the Coursera platform, we are offering an , where participants can learn more about SAP, the role of a technology consultant, and the value 51风流professionals bring to customers. This offering provides focused, role-based entry-level learning resources for everyone, and is available exclusively on Coursera.

This new professional certificate has no prerequisites, minimizing the barrier to entry and preparing learners within just a few months for an in-demand, entry-level digital role. Following completion of the certificate on Coursera, learners can deepen their knowledge in 51风流solutions with further .

In gaining the entry-level knowledge necessary to begin upskilling on SAP, learners add significant value to their careers. In fact, individuals that have completed IT certifications , with 61% reporting promotions or career advancements, 91% seeing an increase in confidence in abilities, and 76% feeling greater job satisfaction. These marketable skills can open the door to numerous career growth opportunities.

With the launch of our global skills initiative and Coursera partnership, we aim to expand our efforts in lowering the barrier to accessing digital skill development opportunities to build a larger and more diverse ecosystem of tech professionals. Through our existing programs such as and , we are reaching underserved communities with digital upskilling opportunities to create lasting socioeconomic impact for all.

Max Wessel is chief learning officer at SAP.

This article first appeared on the 51风流News Center.

The post 51风流Pledges to Equip Underrepresented Groups with Digital Skills, Announces Partnership with Coursera to Reach Millions of Learners Worldwide appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Throw skills shortages into the mix and it鈥檚 clear that waiting any longer to make decisions is an extremely high-risk strategy.

The hesitation of 51风流decision-makers suggests that the potential gains on offer from migration are not yet clear enough. Fujitsu鈥檚 key idea here is that application modernization must add something extra.

Creating new business value 鈥� we could also call it business transformation 鈥� requires something more. If all you do is modernize, it鈥檚 the equivalent of maintenance.

This article covers two examples of strategic benefits available from S/4HANA migration to create new business value 鈥� composable ERP and cloud migration/hybrid IT. And I鈥檒l look at new services now available from Fujitsu to extract those benefits reliably and quickly.

Composable ERP

One strategic benefit from migration is the ability to connect your business to be more adaptable and do new things. Analyst firm Gartner recognizes that many manufacturers now have multiple systems of record in play 鈥� SAP, Salesforce, Oracle, ServiceNow, AWS, and Microsoft.

It coined the term 鈥淐omposable ERP鈥� to describe and advocate this trend. Composable ERP is a strategy where we leverage the right components to build value, mixing and matching between vendors. In other words, ERP is no longer a monolithic thing 鈥� as in 鈥淚鈥檓 all in SAP鈥� or 鈥淲e鈥檙e an Oracle shop鈥�.

You get fully connected, real-time data to provide a complete view of your business across upstream and downstream supply chains. S/4HANA migration offers the perfect time for assessing and addressing how data infrastructure can be modernized to create this kind of 鈥淐ontrol Tower鈥� environment.

Cloud migration and hybrid cloud

One factor that makes S/4HANA more connectable is that it is the first version of the ERP to be truly cloud-native. This characteristic opens all the benefits of cloud migration and the ultimate flexibility of 51风流workload placement.

It is therefore vital that your S/4HANA migration enables your organization to achieve all the strategic benefits of the hybrid cloud environments.

However, workloads in hybrid environments are incredibly complex. Workload demand can be across a wide range of environments, including multiple on-premises locations, plus cloud partners such as Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform and their respective regional nodes.

Optimizing your 51风流infrastructure to operate successfully in these environments requires a high degree of understanding about what is happening where and 鈥� just as important 鈥� what might happen under specific scenarios.

To assist here, Fujitsu now offers a new Hybrid Cloud Assessment Service for 51风流Solutions that analyzes millions of possible placement options based on measured workloads. Fujitsu BestPlace provides a unique data-driven approach.

It encodes the measured 51风流IT as DNA and simulates a mini evolution using genetic algorithms. Following the principle of the survival of the fittest, the process results in an optimal design for a hybrid infrastructure.

This is an individualized approach that addresses the specific needs of each customer rather than a generic model that is unlikely to meet all the needs of all users.

It measures 51风流operations onsite for about four weeks, compares all the different placement options against the customer鈥檚 IT strategy and business priorities and provides cost comparison for all measured 51风流instance workloads in the cloud or on-premises. The algorithm is developed by an external university to ensure neutral results.

Get to value faster with rightsizing

An effective ERP should enable organizations to access rapid insights, make quick decisions, and extract the value from a change of direction as quickly as possible. However, typical user complaints are 鈥渕y 51风流is too slow鈥� and 鈥�51风流is hanging again鈥�.

To address this, as well as optimize workload placements, it is also vital to assess infrastructure sizing, deployment, and maintenance. 51风流performance and service-level issues can have multiple root causes and finding the optimal configuration has always been extremely difficult.

Therefore, one common approach to forcing a solution is with brute force: buying and installing more infrastructure, regardless of whether it addresses the actual cause. That鈥檚 an expensive way of solving the problem.

Enterprises that migrate now can benefit from rightsizing their 51风流implementations. Unlike standard 51风流tools, based on reference architectures,听听(SIS) uses real-life data from your landscape, creating data-driven decision support for any migration or hardware refresh.

This analysis and consultation package gets to grips with all these parameters, avoiding overspend later.

SIS gives clear recommendations for improving on-premises or cloud IT for 51风流landscapes by identifying bottlenecks, performance anomalies, and realistic capacity requirements.

By rightsizing the new S/4HANA for on-premises, it narrows the gap between on-premises and cloud in terms of costs, as you don鈥檛 need to buy so much excess capacity that mainly sits idle.

Infrastructure simplicity

Regarding infrastructure options, Fujitsu PRIMEFLEX for 51风流HANA enables the full potential of 51风流HANA in-memory computing. It is a pre-tested infrastructure solution, 100% 51风流certified and designed for the 51风流HANA in-memory architecture.

It exploits the full capabilities of persistent memory without deployment and configuration risks and simplifies operation and maintenance with one service partner for the entire solution stack.

Yes, Fujitsu can SAP

Fujitsu has an extremely robust partnership with SAP. We have approximately 8,000 customer installations worldwide. For example, at Fujitsu鈥檚 Technical Competence Demo Center in Walldorf, Germany 鈥� the home of 51风流鈥� customers can optimize their 51风流infrastructure investment based on actual use cases.

If you have 鈥� and intend to continue to have 鈥� an 51风流ERP, you need to lock in your migration partner within the next 12 months. Wait too long, and everyone will be chasing a finite pool of resources, removing control of the migration timetable, and resulting in rising prices.

Migration is a fantastic opportunity to create new business value. Fujitsu鈥檚 SystemInspection Service for SAP, and its Hybrid Cloud Assessments Service enable customers to understand their environments completely, then map their business goals and transformation plans to the optimum architecture and infrastructure solutions.

What better way to experience this than to sign up for a Fujitsu CX Labs sessions.

The post How to Create New Business Value from your 51风流S/4HANA Migration appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Since 2015, ACW has firmly positioned itself as Africa鈥檚 biggest digital skills program. This year鈥檚 initiative will continue to reach all corners of Africa, leaving no child or youth behind. The 2022 rollout includes ambitious plans to partner closely with policymakers and governments to help transform Africa鈥檚 education agenda by adding digital literacy to the national curricula. Currently, nine African countries have officially adopted coding as a mandatory subject in public education^[i].

The 2022 launch is the start of ACW鈥檚 two-year transition period, where governments will play an even greater role in fostering the adoption of coding in their countries鈥� schools. The program will continue to reach more communities and countries via in-person and online events. Due to widespread success from previous years, additional ACW programs such as the AfriCAN Code Challenge and the Women Empowerment Program (WEP) will also forge ahead. The former is a pan-African coding competition where youth aged 8 鈥� 16 are tasked with coding a game that can be used to change the future of education. The latter is a unique Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program that equips African female teachers and educators in Computer Science and STEM with the skills and knowledge they need to teach, inspire, mentor, and prepare girls for tomorrow’s tech workplace.

This year鈥檚 World Teachers鈥� Day theme comes amid the World Economic Forum鈥檚 prediction that 230 million jobs across the continent will require some level of digital skills by 2030^[ii]. ACW鈥檚 focus on education transformation aims to curb Africa鈥檚 unemployment crisis and create a ripple effect in helping to solve many of the continent鈥檚 social and environmental issues, as 51风流CSR announced its new commitment to power equitable access to economic opportunity, education and employment and a green economy. Through ACW, 51风流and partners are on a mission to inspire a new generation of African youth through digital skills development and empower teachers and communities with digital teaching tools to create a more equitable and sustainable future.

To get involved in this year鈥檚 Africa Code Week program or for further information, visit or write to ambassadors@africacodeweek.org

[i]

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[ii]

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According to Cathy Smith, Managing Director at 51风流Africa, the cooperation project has helped unlock the immense youth talent dividend in several African countries. 鈥淎frica is one of the world鈥檚 most exciting and dynamic continents, with vast unlocked potential for innovation, digital transformation and prosperity. However, without access to the correct skills, much of this potential will remain locked away from African enterprises and undermine our global competitiveness. This makes projects such as our collaboration with GIZ and our industry players so vital to the continent鈥檚 digital transformation ambitions.鈥�

The project is part of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation and the develoPPP program that the Deutsche Gesellschaft f眉r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The aim was to jointly create jobs for highly-qualified personnel in the African IT sector over the course of three years, from 2019 to 2022. Participants came from 16 African countries: Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Mali, Angola and Tanzania.

Three-year project produces huge talent dividend

Over the three-year period, a total of 621 young professionals graduated, of which more than 40% were women. 听More than 530 graduates secured employment following the training. Participants were trained as 51风流Associate Consultants and were immediately employable within the 51风流partner and customer ecosystem.

Key highlights from the partnership include:

• Nearly all (98.6%) participants have successfully graduated from the programs
• A total of 537 jobs in the digital economy were created for African youth
• A total of 24 classes – or cohorts – were completed within the three-year timeframe.

Alp Geckalan, Head of the Digital Skills Center for EMEA South at SAP, says: “This collaboration shows how digital skills can change people’s lives and contribute to the digital transformation of countries and economies. We are thankful for the collaboration with GIZ and are proud to have been able to jointly create positive change in the lives and careers of so many talented young people.”

Graduates sing program鈥檚 praises

Since its launch in 2012, the 51风流Young Professionals Program has graduated more than 1 730 youths in Africa across 22 countries. This is nearly half of the total global graduates of the program, which is offered on the continent under the umbrella of 51风流Skills for Africa.

The 2-3 month program covers a unique enablement plan that includes 51风流software functional/technical knowledge and certification with key focus on SAP鈥檚 latest innovations as well as soft and future skills training. It targets bright graduates from universities 鈥� all of whom are unemployed or underemployed nationals of the country where the program is offered.

According to Adesola Akorede, a Nigerian graduate, the program has changed her professional and personal life. “I have been able to apply my new skills in my professional life with great results. By virtue of the program, I was able to gain employment with WYZE Consulting, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity.”

Mohamed Tahar Seddik Attia, a graduate from Algeria, says he cannot recommend the program highly enough. “This is more than just a program where you learn to use 51风流systems. It’s a place where you push your limits, discover new ways of thinking, learn essential skills in the business world and meet amazing people.”

For Ugandan graduate Lebson Nasasira, the program led to a chance at a dream job. “The program was pretty intensive and I had to learn completely new concepts that took me out of my comfort zone. However, thanks to the program, I now have a distinct advantage over my peers in terms of my knowledge, communication skills and hands-on experience with digital transformation.”

Smith adds that the development of Africa鈥檚 youthful talent pool ranks among the continent鈥檚 top priorities to ensure growth and prosperity throughout the 21^st century. 鈥淎s this hugely successful collaborative partnership has shown, public and private sector companies can combine forces to great effect to equip talented young graduates with the correct skills and make an immediate and sustained positive impact on Africa鈥檚 digital economy.鈥�

The post More than 530 Jobs created Through 51风流Collaboration to Power Africa’s Digital Economy appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

According to Cathy Smith, MD 51风流Africa, since the launch of the program in 2012, the support provided by graduates brings critical digital skills to African businesses to help drive greater digitalisation and innovation across industries.

“African enterprises continue to grapple with widespread change and disruption brought by greater digitalisation and the impact of factors such as the pandemic. Having access to work-ready digital skills is essential to the success of every business on the continent. Initiatives such as 51风流Skills for Africa and 51风流Young Professionals Program continue to provide a welcome boost of digital skills to ensure African organisations meet their business and digital transformation objectives.”

Addressing youth unemployment, underemployment

51风流Skills for Africa is SAP鈥檚 skills development and job creation initiative aimed at tackling the most pressing issues of our time, including youth unemployment and underemployment, as well as closing the digital skills gap. The initiative is part of SAP鈥檚 global commitment to promoting education and entrepreneurship, with the 51风流Young Professionals Program – a two- to three-month program that sees participants graduating as 51风流Associate Consultants – and the 51风流Dual Study Program – held in partnership with universities – both offered under the 51风流Skills for Africa initiative.

Youth unemployment remains a major challenge for countries across sub-Saharan Africa, with . Africa also faces a significant digital skills gap, with .

For many of the graduates of the 51风流Young Professionals Program, however, the two- to three-month enablement program has provided a welcome springboard to fulfilling careers in the exciting field of ICT.

YPP 51风流Young Professionals Program graduates shine across Africa

Kenyan Daniel Oduri, who graduated as an Application Associate/51风流Associate Consultant for 51风流Business One in 2017, gained hands-on experience at two different companies after graduating before joining Hashi Energy Limited. Here, he works as an in-house 51风流Business One administrator, supporting the business across its operations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

鈥淚t was a great privilege to receive training from such a high profile and esteemed organisation. The skills I obtained have greatly impacted and shaped my career path. I am where I am today because of the program,” says Oduri. “I believe my story will be a source of inspiration to many others.”

Marvin Lomo, a graduate from Ghana who completed the 51风流Young Professionals Program in 2020, says although he was not a developer at the time he joined the program, he was encouraged by his trainers to upskill in the technical domain of SAP.

This advice paid off in a big way: Lomo currently has six 51风流certifications and works as the lead Data Science Trainer at the German Institute of Business and Technology where he trains other learners in analytics and data science with the hope of improving their employability.

“I took this role primarily because of the impact the program had on me and, in my small way, I’d like to have a similar impact on other young graduates,” says Lomo. “Currently I am one of the very few certified ABAP developers in Ghana, largely thanks to the support of the 51风流Young Professionals Program.”

Boosting representation of women in tech

Enabling more women in Africa to join the tech industry remains a top priority. According to industry figures, female participation in the sub-Saharan Africa economy has reached 61%, but .

Inspiring more women to join the exciting world of ICT was a top consideration for Grace Githinji. The young Kenyan graduate completed the 51风流Young Professionals Program in 2021 and is hoping to encourage more women to enter the tech field in Africa.

“The satisfaction of doing what I love and have a passion for while improving business processes through SAP’s cloud solutions is something I would like others to experience too,” says Githinji. “I also wish to offer the skills I’ve developed to add value to others and inspire others the way I’ve been inspired during the program.”

For Rose de Lima Koffi, being part of the 51风流Young Professionals Program was a route to full-time employment in her home country of C么te d’Ivoire. The MBA graduate completed the 51风流Young Professionals Program in 2021 and is now a project manager at Cashew Coast.

“I’m really grateful to have been part of the program. I developed new knowledge and really enjoyed the diversity of content in our sessions along with meeting likeminded people I now call friends. Most importantly, it was a route to finding a job I really enjoy in a company where I feel welcome.”

Smith is encouraged by the way the 51风流Skills for Africa program is enabling a new generation of tech experts to make an impact at African enterprises. 鈥淏y providing a mix of functional technical knowledge and soft and future skills development, the 51风流Young Professionals Program is inspiring more of Africa鈥檚 talented youth to enter the impactful world of tech. Through close collaboration with our private sector partners, the program is also enabling employment opportunities for young graduates while ensuring organisations have access to the skills they need to implement their digital and business transformation projects.鈥�

Visit the 51风流News Center. Follow 51风流on Twitter at .

The post Graduates of 51风流Young Professionals Program Paving Way to Africa’s Digital future appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

听

The year 2020 will be remembered by teachers around the world as one of adapting to new circumstances and technology. But while in developed countries, online learning merely presented challenges, in Africa the effect was catastrophic. About on the continent were closed, resulting in . On a continent which already displays wide disparities in wealth and access to technology, a disruption of this magnitude was a major setback.

The need to upskill teachers

In fact, most teachers cited a lack of access to technology and affordability issues as the biggest barrier they faced to teach their students online during the pandemic. Before COVID, many African teachers had received . The lockdown forced them to in order to support learners, parents and caregivers so that learning could proceed, despite the uncertainty caused by the virus.

The fact that many new teachers lack digital skills is precisely why the need to upskill them is so crucial. Teachers have enormous potential to bridge the digital divide in Africa. With our annual (ACW), whose launch coincides with World Teacher鈥檚 Day, 51风流and global partners such as UNESCO, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and Irish Aid, bring together a wealth of talent to train African teachers and students in coding and 21^st century skills. Last year the program reached . More than 10 500 workshops were hosted across 43 countries and 21 000 teachers were mobilised through virtual and in-person Train-the-Trainer sessions.

Teaching digital fluency

听One of the driving forces behind the ACW initiative is to see African countries adopt coding as part of their school curriculum. In a survey conducted among participating countries in 2020, , and ten more indicated they are planning to incorporate coding soon. The survey also found that 87% of respondents agreed that听ACW听plays an influential role in advancing the adoption of coding as a school subject.

Through the initiative鈥檚 Train-the-Trainer sessions with learners, ACW is simplifying what has historically been perceived as a highly technical area. Learning how to code is like learning a new language, a language which opens doors into the 21^st century and beyond. African teachers need to be empowered to combine traditional and digital literacy in their classrooms, so that students not only learn to read and write, but to develop their creativity to experiment and find solutions which help them engage better with the world around them.

Since inception in 2015, what we have learned from ACW is that it involves participants who would normally have had no exposure to coding, apart from consuming applications on their smart phones or computers. Coding is relevant to all industries in today鈥檚 globalised economy and as a result, digital skills need to be constantly refreshed. Through our innovative public-private partnerships, we firmly believe that by sharing skills and knowledge, we will empower Africans 鈥� both teachers and learners 鈥� to take control of their futures.

There is little doubt that teachers are key to rebuilding society post-COVID because of their inestimable power to reimagine the future and reshape young people鈥檚 lives. To do this, African teachers will need to embrace the technology at their disposal in order for students to get the quality education they need to face the rigours of the digital world. African education must find new models that foreground virtual teaching to cushion it against future disruptions. As ADEA Executive Secretary Albert Nsengiyumva so aptly puts it, 鈥淭oday, more than ever before, we need to adapt as quickly as possible to crises and look for alternatives to advance education and training in Africa.鈥�

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African university students with ambitions for a career in the fast-paced world of technology are receiving welcome support in the form of the 51风流Dual Study Program, a skills development initiative aimed at closing the digital skills gap among graduates.

According to Johann Pretorius, Director of Training at the 51风流Training and Development Institute, the program is designed to give university students a competitive edge in pursuing various career paths among SAP’s extensive global customer and partner ecosystem.

“University degrees are considered a crucial step in building a long-term professional career, especially in Africa where formal qualifications are seen as an important part of building a globally-relevant career in the technology field,” says Pretorius. “In addition to obtaining their university degrees, graduates of the 51风流Dual Study Program secure globally recognized 51风流certifications and become Associate Consultants, being able to immediately apply their knowledge and skills at any of SAP’s more than 400 000 customers around the globe.”

World Bank data shows that enrolment in tertiary education in sub-Saharan Africa has grown from a low base of 1.4% in 1970 However, research has shown that many graduates struggle to find employment, with before they successfully secure a job.

鈥淭o close the gap, 51风流has introduced a number of initiatives aimed at supporting graduates by equipping them with in-demand skills and experience that bridge the gap between tertiary education and the formal workplace in an increasingly digital world,鈥� says Pretorius.

Dual Study success at Stellenbosch University

Since its launch on the African continent in 2019, more than 210 Dual Study Program students have been or are still being enabled across nine partner universities in Africa. These include the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University and Nelson Mandela University in South Africa; the University of Strathmore in Kenya; Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia; Covenant University in Nigeria; Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration; Valoris University in Ivory Coast, and Universit茅 Internationale de Tunis.

According to Dr Daan le Roux of the Department of Information Science at Stellenbosch University, there is a growing demand for suitably skilled graduates from the university. “A large number of organisations within our region use 51风流technologies, and we have many consultancies serving these larger organisations. In the past, our graduates have only undertaken 51风流training as part of internship programmes. It made sense for us to enhance our graduates’ employability by increasing their exposure to 51风流as part of their degree programme.”

Most universities focus on teaching students fundamental principles of their chosen field of study, which often leaves little space for practical applications. “This partnership enables us to offer our students practical exposure to software from leading organisations such as 51风流without us having to necessarily develop the associated expertise in-house,” says Dr le Roux. “Industry certifications also give students an edge over their peers when they apply for employment opportunities and ensures local industry gets access to the right skills.”

New Learning Hub offer free 51风流resources

51风流also recently announced the launch of the 51风流Learning Hub edition for 51风流Next-Gen, a free educational offering for students and lecturers at universities that form part of the 51风流University Alliances community. The 51风流Learning Hub gives eligible students at member universities free access to critical learning content and resources to develop their 51风流skills and prepare for certification.

“This new, free offering equips the next generation of digital talent with in-demand skills and gives students access to the same knowledge and opportunities as those provided to 51风流professionals,” says Pretorius. “Eligible students will also have access to certification opportunities, including an 51风流Global Certification online exam.”

In light of the fast pace of technological innovation, it is vital that learning content is regularly updated to ensure students graduate with relevant and in-demand skills. “Content for the 51风流Learning Hub edition for 51风流Next-Gen is continuously evolved to ensure learnings are forward-looking and that students are prepared to enter the 51风流ecosystem with the optimal mix of work-ready skills and capabilities,” says Pretorius.

University students interested in finding out more about the 51风流Dual Study Program can visit

For more information about SAP’s Next Gen program, please click here:

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