Binance Charity in partnership with Utiva is set to train over 50,000 youths across Africa on blockchain technology and software development over the next year.
Emmanuel Ebanehita, marketing director of Binance West Africa, speaking to journalists recently, said that
Binance Charity Foundation’s mission is to enable Web3 as a driver of social transformation by driving financial inclusion and making its education accessible to all.
“Our goal for this project is to organize free weekly masterclasses to offer training to 50,000 Africans from 20 countries within a year.”
He added that through the Binance Scholar programme, his organisation plans to offer 1,000 scholarships for the learning of soft skills, along with blockchain and cryptocurrency.
According to him, at the end of the training, students will undergo a month-long virtual apprenticeship program where they will be required to work on two real-life projects and business cases.
“Good quality training and scholarships in tech offer opportunities to understand local and global economic challenges,” he said.
He noted that training in blockchain and software development will help create job opportunities for future leaders to build stronger economies and support the inclusion of decentralized financial tools to encourage long-term growth and more excellent stability.
Speaking also, Adeshola Aibare, project manager, Utiva said that the fully-funded scholarship by Binance Charity gives each beneficiary access to a one-year fully virtual program where they are required to choose any tech skill of their choice from seven of Utiva’s top technology learning programs.
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“These seven programs are data science, cloud development, UI/UX design, product management, software development, product marketing, and business Analysis of their chosen tech skills.”
She explained that the students are trained intensively for six months after which they move on to learn blockchain technology & cryptocurrency content from Binance academy integrated into Utiva’s LMS for the last six months.
According to her, this training program is a supported cohort-based combining the self-paced learning experience.
She notes that it allows the students to engage with multiple training content during the week and virtual instructor-led coaching sessions which will be run on the weekends where students in small cohorts of about 45 can join virtual live classes on the weekends to engage with trainers and coaches and work on real-life projects.
Aibare said that the education program is aimed at young people within the age range of 18 – 35 from over 19 countries across Africa.
“We are working directly with over 50 youth-led organizations in Africa to engage their community as well as other Africans who will be required to take the Utiva pre-training virtual assessment where they are evaluated based on several criteria,” she said.
“Once selected, they are accepted into the program and onboarded on the Utiva LMS to partake in this training. These will help put learners on the right track toward a lucrative and long-term career in the tech industry,” she said.
Aboluwade Oladele Fatola, a participant in the training programme said that he learned about the charity scholarship programme from his community in Oyo state.
Fatola, who had no background in tech, said the training has developed his blockchain skills and he is currently working to build a system that will address Africa’s security and climate change problems.
Also, another participant that simply gave her name as Sherifah, a 200-level computer student said she has been interested in blockchain technology, but owing to lack of funds she has been unable to attend training.
She said the Binance and Utiva partnership has provided the platform for her to learn blockchain technology at no cost.
