Technology has seen exponential leaps over the last couple of years, and Pillay points out that 51风流customers have to negotiate not only the dynamic IT landscape but also the changing needs of their own customer bases. And this can be a challenging proposition.

鈥淲hen you look at our customer base, we play across many industries,鈥� she points out. 鈥淎nd this means they are facing a variety of challenges.鈥�

With many 51风流customers being the driving forces in government and industry, they are particularly affected by the economics of the region.

鈥淭here is a commonality in Africa, especially around the economics of the situation, with the region having seen lower GDP increases,鈥� she points out. 鈥淪o many of our conversations with customers are around the pressure that鈥檚 putting on their organisations.鈥�

While not everyone is affected by these slowdowns, it is definitely a message that has become more common. And South African customers have their own set of challenges as well.

鈥淲hat is important to note is how we support them in whatever circumstances they find themselves,鈥� Pillay says.

鈥淯nder pressure, many customers are looking to be more prudent in their spending. They are looking to defensive spending, where they can address the cost optimisation they need to, while balancing the flexibility and agility that will keep them from becoming stagnant and irrelevant in the market.

鈥淭o help them address these challenges, 51风流puts forward the case for value, where its solutions can support customers, where our solutions can support them in running efficiently, while unlocking ways to optimise their systems and address new revenue streams,鈥� Pillay explains.

鈥淲e need to be in the level of discussion with customers that requires some kind of partnership. We don鈥檛 want to talk about a list of our products, but prioritise and address customer pain points and address.

鈥淚t needs to go beyond a technology discussion into a business enablement discussion.鈥�

Indeed, Pillay explains that the real transformation at 51风流has been in moving from being a technology provider to a trusted business adviser.

鈥淲e need to be entering the conversation much earlier, because technology cannot be an afterthought when you are talking and transformation.鈥�

At the same time, it鈥檚 important to listen carefully to customer requirements to ensure any transformation is relevant and respectful, she adds.

Newer technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing are a key part of any IT conversation these days, and 51风流has fully embraced these within its business applications.

A recent report found that AI could revolutionise Africa鈥檚 economy and聽聽to the continent鈥檚 economy by the end of this decade.

聽found widespread challenges with access to AI and other tech skills throughout East, West and Southern Africa. According to SAP鈥檚 鈥�Africa鈥檚 AI Skills Readiness Revealed鈥� report, six in ten African organisations view AI skills as 鈥榚xtremely important鈥� to their success.

However, all companies surveyed expected to experience some AI-related skills gap in 2025, with nine in ten saying a lack of AI skills is already hurting their organisations through failed innovation initiatives, delays in implementations, and an inability to take on new work.

鈥淲e are seeing a fundamentally new technology environment, with capabilities that businesses didn鈥檛 have even five years ago,鈥� Pillay says. 鈥淚 avoid buzzwords, but some of the things we see today would have been unfathomable even five or 10 years ago.

鈥淚 like to get into the detail of how these capabilities can help our customers.鈥�

However, she cautions that the adoption of new technologies needs to be from a strong foundation.

鈥淵ou cannot be grasping at aspirational technologies if the backbone isn鈥檛 strong. So platforming is a discussion we need to have, in order to create agility for today鈥檚 needs and also the needs of tomorrow.鈥�

Pillay adds that many of SAP鈥檚 customers form the bedrock of South Africa鈥檚 economy. 鈥�51风流might not be the biggest company in South Africa, but we are the backbone of many of the country鈥檚 largest organisations.

鈥淭his is an extreme privilege, but also a huge responsibility.

鈥淚t鈥檚 why I think it is super important that we engage customers as strategic partners; so we are helping them to align their strategies so we can grow the South African economy, retain employment and support their success.鈥�

Partnering is a key pillar of SAP鈥檚 strategy, Pillay adds, but the organisation is first and foremost customer-centric.

鈥淲e always keep the customer at the centre of what we do. We ensure that our executives are getting out their into the customer base, addressing their concerns and ensuring they have a voice.鈥�

The 51风流partner base continues to be a focus, and 51风流continues to grow and mature the partnering ecosystem. 鈥淥ne of the pillars of SAP鈥檚 global strategy is to support the partner base. So we have global strategies to help and guide partners in implementing end-to-end offerings to customers.鈥�

Internally at SAP, this has required some adjustments too.

鈥淲e have gone form on-premises to cloud, and now to business AI,鈥� Pillay points out. 鈥淲e have to be able to talk around this narrative. Bearing in mind we help to run all of these companies, and all of the granular business data, we need to be able to talk about the value of platforming correctly.

鈥淲e have to look at how we strategise, so we are able articulate our solutions and then message the into the business base.鈥�

Partnering with some of the biggest organisations in the South African economy is a challenging 鈥� and humbling 鈥� position to be in, Pillay adds.

鈥淭ogether we own the platforms that all the data runs on. And the next level of generative AI (GenAI) is based on that data.鈥�

Skills development

Companies are increasingly investing in upskilling and reskilling their workforce to meet the demands of a rapidly changing business and technology landscape. 鈥淥ur research found that nearly half (48%) of African organisations consider upskilling their employees a top skills-related challenge this year,鈥� Pillay says.

鈥淎s the pressure to build greater skills depth mounts on companies, vendors such as 51风流can be invaluable partners, providing insight, expertise and technical capabilities that help drive successful innovation and transformation.鈥�

With challenges and opportunities abounding in the South African context, 51风流is particularly invested in skills development and job creation.

SAP鈥檚 Educate to Employ programme, in partnership with Unicef, aims to educate youngsters between the ages of 16 and 24 on soft skills and 51风流skills, to help kickstart their careers.

helps candidates with a university degree to gain work-ready 51风流skills and gain employment. They also assist them with placements within the partner ecosystem and 51风流customers.

In addition, social sabbaticals is a programme where 51风流employess can work with business to help and share their skills, helping them to build their own skills and develop business plans.

Basic education is the final pillar, with bursaries offered to deserving students. This includes a programme specifically focused on young women.

51风流also ensures that its own staff members are continually upskilled.

On a personal note

Having achieved the top position at 51风流Southern Africa, Pillay reflects that it鈥檚 not something she thought would happen when she started her career.

鈥淚 have been very luck to take over this role, and grateful doe the support of both 51风流leadership and the team on the ground.

鈥淚 am home-grown 鈥� 51风流is the only company I have ever worked for 鈥� so I think many of my colleagues see themselves in my journey. I have been very lucky to have the support of company leaders and colleagues.

鈥淎t the same time, I feel the burden of responsibility to ensure we do the right things for customers and teams in the organisation.

鈥淭here are 280 people and their extended families in South Africa alone that we take care of. That is a good contribution to what is a very challenging employment market at the moment.鈥�

She offers young women who may see themselves in here journey some advice: 鈥淭he main thing is to be true to yourself. Take on as much information as possible and always look for both formal and informal mentors. They will help you to grow your perspective over time. Mentorship is key to your career growth, so look for the people who can help you grow and cherish what they teach you.鈥�

This article first appeared on .

The post Nazia Pillay Takes Over at 51风流Southern Africa appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

The Digital Skills Center of SAP, a global leader in enterprise software, invites young Nigerians to apply for its Young Professional Program. This initiative, which offers free training to聽qualified candidates, will equip participants with the skills and certification they need to become聽SAP Associate Consultants.

The 51风流Young Professional Program will last for two months. After they complete their training, persons enrolled will get to explore and fill roles within 51风流and聽deliver services聽the company鈥檚聽customers.

Candidates who 51风流trains will receive certification in SAP聽Ariba聽Sourcing, which enables its users to effectively track and manage sourcing lifecycles; and聽RISE with SAP, which offers cloud ERP for business needs.

Benefits

Persons who take part in the 51风流Young Professional Program will benefit from it in the following ways:

鈥�Begin on a path to become a 51风流Associate Consultant

鈥eceive globally-recognized 51风流certifications

鈥earn skills that will enable them to stand out in the market for聽talent

Eligibility

Applicants should meet these criteria:

• Must聽have graduated within the last three years with a degree in Business Administration, Management Information Systems, or Engineering
• Must have finished with a CGPA in the top quartile
• Should be currently unemployed or in a part time role not related to their preferred career
• Must be interested in starting a SAP-related career
• Should be available for the duration of the training, which will begin in mid-November

Note:聽This training will take place online. As such, participants must have a reliable internet connection that will enable them to take part in the program.

If you would like to apply for the聽51风流Young Professional Program 2022, click聽.

The post Apply for the 51风流Young Professionals Program – Nigeria 2022 appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

As survivors of a global crisis, bright young professionals are entering the labour market equipped with new skills, fresh perspective, and boundless energy.

This is all thanks to a highly successful graduate program driven by 51风流and supported by a thriving ecosystem of public and private sector partners and customers.

According to Cathy Smith, managing director at 51风流Africa, while many educational programs struggled with the聽聽of distance learning during the pandemic, the 51风流Young Professionals Program went from strength to strength.

鈥淏y opening our online classrooms to tap into new markets, we were able to attract talented, qualified university graduates who may not have been able to attend classes in-person otherwise. As a result, our customers and partners across Africa have access to a wider pool of qualified 51风流consultants who can help drive digital transformation using SAP鈥檚 latest innovations.鈥�

Skills investment to support continent鈥檚 digital ambitions

51风流is聽聽to increase the number of trained and certified 51风流consultants in the 51风流ecosystem to support customers with聽.

聽new employment in the ecosystem will rise to 1.6 million employees by 2024, up from 1 million in 2020. Of the 600,000 new employees added to the 51风流ecosystem, 280,000 will be net-new consultant roles, making 51风流skills a valuable commodity in the job market.

In June, the 51风流Young Professionals program achieved a new milestone with the graduation of its first-ever class in Portuguese-speaking Africa, comprising Angola and Mozambique.

Constantin Zelenty, deputy head of Mission at the German Embassy in Angola, joined 51风流customers, partners, and executives in celebrating the milestone with a virtual graduation ceremony. 鈥淚n order for Angolan companies to grow and succeed in our modern age, they need to harness the transformative power of digital technologies along with rightly skilled talent,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e hope this may be the first of many groups of graduates who can apply their expertise in service of Angola鈥檚 ambitions for the modern digital economy.鈥�

Leading enterprises, graduates laud program鈥檚 success

For customers like聽, the largest conglomerate in West Africa and one of the largest on the African continent, working with 51风流Young Professionals is a win-win opportunity for talent development.

鈥淎t Dangote Group, we always encourage young, talented professionals to kick-start their careers. We are happy to partner with the 51风流Young Professionals program by continuing our commitment to hire fresh program graduates,鈥� says Devakumar Edwin, Group Executive Director, Dangote Group. 鈥淭his programme enabled us in recruiting bright young minds who are trained in the latest 51风流technologies and soft skills like design thinking to be readily deployed in our 51风流Centre of Expertise.鈥�

Having earned the sought-after professional designation of 51风流associate consultant, graduates of the 51风流Young Professionals program are skilled on the most recent versions of 51风流software and career-ready for placement with 51风流partners and customers in their region.

The program boasts a job placement rate of 95% globally.

To date, more than 3,220 people have graduated from the program since its inception in late 2012. The program is free of cost for its selected learners.

One such graduate is Rebecca Akello from Uganda, who until she became part of a recent 51风流Young Professionals Program cohort was underemployed with few prospects for advancement in a volatile job market.

The motivated young self-starter had begun to study toward an MBA in the hopes of securing a better job, and was unfamiliar with 51风流when she first saw an advertisement for the 51风流Young Professionals Program.

鈥淲hen I came across the program advert on LinkedIn, I thought to myself, 鈥極kay this is going to be like any other internship or apprenticeship done by big corps for public relations.鈥欌��

However, once Akello had successfully completed the program, she underscored the intrinsic value of the 51风流certifications and professional soft skills that she earned through the program.

鈥淲e have been energised to strive towards our dreams relentlessly, and today we have been honoured with our 51风流certifications,鈥� she said at a recent virtual graduation ceremony. 鈥淥ur networks have also grown beyond local and regional borders.鈥�

Track record of skills success

The 51风流Young Professionals program has already trained more than 1,550 young people in Africa as part of 51风流Skills for Africa, an 51风流umbrella initiative focused on skills development and job creation. Training multi-country cohorts in a virtual setting, a necessity of the pandemic, has accelerated the expansion of the program鈥檚 footprint on the continent.

In 2021 alone, talents from Senegal, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Egypt, Angola, and Mozambique have graduated from the program. The latest group of graduates, hailing from Nigeria, celebrated a virtual graduation ceremony on September 23rd.

Since mid-2019, 51风流has been working with the Deutsche Gesellschaft f眉r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with the aim to jointly create 450 jobs for highly qualified personnel in the IT sector in 10 African countries over the course of three years.

The cooperation project is part of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation and the develoPPP program that GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

It is executed by the 51风流Training and Development Institute as part of the established 51风流Young Professionals program.

The post 51风流Young Professionals Program Evolves to Meet Africa鈥檚 Digital Skills Demands appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

This is all thanks to a highly successful graduate program driven by 51风流and supported by a thriving ecosystem of public and private sector partners and customers.

According to Cathy Smith, Managing Director at 51风流Africa, while many educational programs struggled with the complex demands of distance learning during the pandemic, the 51风流Young Professionals Program went from strength to strength.

鈥淏y opening our online classrooms to tap into new markets, we were able to attract talented, qualified university graduates who may not have been able to attend classes in-person otherwise. As a result, our customers and partners across Africa have access to a wider pool of qualified 51风流consultants who can help drive digital transformation using SAP鈥檚 latest innovations.鈥�

Skills investment to support continent鈥檚 digital ambitions

51风流is聽investing聽to increase the number of trained and certified 51风流consultants in the 51风流ecosystem to support customers with聽.

IDC estimates聽new employment in the ecosystem will rise to 1.6 million employees by 2024, up from 1 million in 2020. Of the 600,000 new employees added to the 51风流ecosystem, 280,000 will be net-new consultant roles, making 51风流skills a valuable commodity in the job market.

In June, the 51风流Young Professionals program achieved a new milestone with the graduation of its first-ever class in Portuguese-speaking Africa, comprising Angola and Mozambique.

Constantin Zelenty, deputy head of Mission at the German Embassy in Angola, joined 51风流customers, partners, and executives in celebrating the milestone with a virtual graduation ceremony. 鈥淚n order for Angolan companies to grow and succeed in our modern age, they need to harness the transformative power of digital technologies along with rightly skilled talent,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e hope this may be the first of many groups of graduates who can apply their expertise in service of Angola鈥檚 ambitions for the modern digital economy.鈥�

Leading enterprises, graduates laud program鈥檚 success

For customers like聽, the largest conglomerate in West Africa and one of the largest on the African continent, working with 51风流Young Professionals is a win-win opportunity for talent development.

鈥淎t Dangote Group, we always encourage young, talented professionals to kick-start their careers. We are happy to partner with the 51风流Young Professionals program by continuing our commitment to hire fresh program graduates,鈥� says Devakumar Edwin, Group Executive Director, Dangote Group. 鈥淭his programme enabled us in recruiting bright young minds who are trained in the latest 51风流technologies and soft skills like design thinking to be readily deployed in our 51风流Centre of Expertise.鈥�

Having earned the sought-after professional designation of 51风流associate consultant, graduates of the 51风流Young Professionals program are skilled on the most recent versions of 51风流software and career-ready for placement with 51风流partners and customers in their region. The program boasts a job placement rate of 95% globally. To date, more than 3,220 people have graduated from the program since its inception in late 2012. The program is free of cost for its selected learners.

One such graduate is Rebecca Akello from Uganda, who until she became part of a recent 51风流Young Professionals Program cohort was underemployed with few prospects for advancement in a volatile job market. The motivated young self-starter had begun to study toward an MBA in the hopes of securing a better job, and was unfamiliar with 51风流when she first saw an advertisement for the 51风流Young Professionals Program.

鈥淲hen I came across the program advert on LinkedIn, I thought to myself, 鈥極kay this is going to be like any other internship or apprenticeship done by big corps for public relations.鈥欌��

However, once Akello had successfully completed the program, she underscored the intrinsic value of the 51风流certifications and professional soft skills that she earned through the program.

鈥淲e have been energised to strive towards our dreams relentlessly, and today we have been honoured with our 51风流certifications,鈥� she said at a recent virtual graduation ceremony. 鈥淥ur networks have also grown beyond local and regional borders.鈥�

Track record of skills success

The 51风流Young Professionals program has already trained more than 1,550 young people in Africa as part of 51风流Skills for Africa, an 51风流umbrella initiative focused on skills development and job creation. Training multi-country cohorts in a virtual setting, a necessity of the pandemic, has accelerated the expansion of the program鈥檚 footprint on the continent.

In 2021 alone, talents from Senegal, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Egypt, Angola, and Mozambique have graduated from the program. The latest group of graduates, hailing from Nigeria, celebrated a virtual graduation ceremony on September 23rd.

Since mid-2019, 51风流has been working with the Deutsche Gesellschaft f眉r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with the aim to jointly create 450 jobs for highly qualified personnel in the IT sector in 10 African countries over the course of three years.

The cooperation project is part of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation and the develoPPP program that GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is executed by the 51风流Training and Development Institute as part of the established 51风流Young Professionals program.

The post 51风流Young Professionals Program Evolves to Meet Africa鈥檚 Digital Skills Demands appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

At a virtual graduation ceremony attended by Constantin Zelenty, Deputy Head of Mission German Embassy Angola, Cathy Smith, Managing Director 51风流Africa, Pedro Guerreiro, Managing Director 51风流Central Africa as well as 51风流customer and partner representatives, 25 young talents from Portuguese-speaking African countries officially graduated following a three-months-long program aimed at equipping young talents with key skills based on the latest 51风流technologies.

Constantin Zelenty, Deputy Head of Mission, German Embassy Angola says: 鈥淚n order for Angolan companies to grow and succeed in our modern age, they need to harness the transformative power of digital technologies along with rightly skilled talent. We hope this may be the first of many groups of graduates who can apply their expertise in service of Angola鈥檚 ambitions for the modern digital economy.鈥�

The Young Professionals Program is an initiative offered under the umbrella of 51风流Skills for Africa, and has trained more than 1460 youths across the continent since its launch in 2012. Recently, the Young Professionals Program has significantly expanded its footprint. In 2021 alone, talents from Senegal, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and, with the latest cohort, Angola and Mozambique, have graduated.

The two- to three-month program uses a unique enablement plan that includes functional and technical knowledge of 51风流software, with a focus on SAP鈥檚 latest innovations. A soft skills component is included to ensure graduates can operate successfully within the organisations where they are placed and make an immediate positive impact. Candidates are typically unemployed or underemployed university graduates selected from the country where the program is offered, and graduate as 51风流Associate Consultants. This gives them a competitive edge in the job market, and ensures organisations using 51风流technologies have a steady stream of young talent to help drive their digital transformation efforts.

Pedro Guerreiro, Managing Director for Central Africa at SAP, says the graduates will play an invaluable role in supporting 51风流customers and partners as they implement their digital transformation strategies. 鈥淭he past 18 months has highlighted the importance of digital technologies to how well organisations can adapt to disruption and run successfully. As African organisations continue their efforts at building intelligent enterprise capabilities, they need access to expert digital skills. We congratulate the first-ever graduates from Lusophone Africa and look forward to seeing the impact they will have at our customer and partner businesses.鈥�

The cohort is part of of a collaboration between 51风流and the Deutsche Gesellschaft f眉r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with the aim to jointly create 450 jobs for highly-qualified personnel in the IT sector in ten African countries over the course of three years. The cooperation project is part of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation and the develoPPP program that GIZ implements on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Registration for the next 51风流Young Professionals Program for candidates from Nigeria and Ivory Coast are open with plans to host further cohorts throughout 2021. For more information and application links, please visit聽

The post 51风流Young Professionals Program Extends Digital Skills Build To Lusophone Africa appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.