Graduates need digital skills to be employable- Olumodimu

Florence Olumodimu, the programme director Nigeria at Digify Africa, has challenged graduates to hone their digital skills to become employable.

Olumodimu gave these remarks while speaking to journalists as Digify Africa prepares to host experts at the 2nd Industry stakeholder’s engagement event on ‘Accelerating Talents for Industry 4.0 with Digital Skills.”

The event scheduled to hold on August 24, 2022, will give registered participants, especially graduates and undergraduates, the chance to learn much more about starting a career in digital.

“The job market has evolved that no matter what you study and grade, having certain digital skills is all you need to succeed. And the generation gap of digital competencies has shown us that there are still a lot of challenges for the governments to work on many levels,” Olumodimu said.

The need for the upgrade to digital skills, such as software engineering, Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, payment solutions, creative design, digital applications, data analysis etc. have become apparent as the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to go digital to survive.

Also, digital skills help people who are hit the hardest in terms of job losses. For example, Nigeria’s economy is dealing with a high unemployment rate of 33.3 percent and that number could increase further.

The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2030 some level of digital skills will be required for 50-55 percent of jobs in Kenya, 35-45 percent in Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Rwanda, and 20-25 percent in Mozambique.

Read also: Improving the chances of Nigeria in growing Africa’s digital economy

The relevance of digital transformation has made top tech companies like Google invest one billion dollars in Africa’s digital transformation. Also, in 2020, Microsoft introduced a global skills initiative to provide digital skills to more than 25 million people worldwide.

According to the digital marketing communications specialist, for young people living in Africa, the questions that comes to mind is how Industry 4.0 will continue to play out. How are job roles evolving? What skills are needed to invest in to meet operational changes?

“The answers to these questions are critical for graduates to be prepared as businesses seek to take full advantage of the opportunities that are arising from digital transformation.”