• Thursday, December 05, 2024
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Power Learn Project calls for partnerships to develop tech talent in Africa

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(L-r) MD/CEO, Manifold Computers Ltd, Gbemiga Delano, Country Manager, Great Place to Work Nigeria, Otamere Frederick Elegon, be Lead, Power Learn Project, Nigeria Ajo Balogun and Founder/CEO, Utiva , Eyitayo Ogunmola at the event.

Power Learn Project, an impact organisation that offers tech training for youths across Africa, has called for partnership to foster collaboration for technology talent development in Africa.

Mumbi Ndung’u, Power Learn Project’s chief of growth and operations, made the call at a forum aimed to bring together industry stakeholders, organisations, and potential partners to explore opportunities for collaboration, create pathways for job opportunities for learners in Nigeria.

Ndung’u further explained that such partnerships and collaboration will enable youths access sustainable job opportunities and drive Africa’s tech ecosystem forward.

“Power Learn Project firmly believes that collaboration is key to unleashing the full potential of Africa’s tech talent.

“By partnering with organisations, we aim to create impactful initiatives that bridge the gap between training and employment, providing learners with the necessary pathways to secure meaningful job opportunities in the technology industry.

“We are thrilled to invite potential partners to join us in this endeavor of fostering collaboration for tech talent development in Africa. Through strategic partnerships, we can amplify our impact, create more opportunities, and empower learners to thrive in the tech sector. Together, we can shape the future of Africa’s digital workforce’’, Ndung’u added.

Also speaking at the event, which will take place in Lagos, Ajo Balogun, lead, Power Learn Project, Nigeria, explained that the project hoped to train a million tech developers for Africa over the next five years.

Balogun, further said that the project started in Kenya in 2022 and that it has spread across five African countries including; South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria.

To her, the success story is based on the fact that they have already graduated over ten thousand learners in the past, adding “we are going to have graduated nine hundred learners by the middle of July. So the essence of this meeting is to help us seek partners to be able to achieve that goal.

Talking about criteria for participation, Balogun said, “It targeted youths from the age of 18 and above, the programme is online based, also self-based which means participants can do it thrice in a week or throughout the week depending on their time.

“But the idea is that once you have achieved that training within four months, it then becomes entry level for software developers. The reason we are doing that is to leave a legacy for ourselves in Africa. We do not need to be waiting for international organisations to offer us solution that we need. We need to create our own solutions, and that is what Power Learn Project is all about. It is a Pan African project and that means we are going across Africa. We are into five countries already, and the goal is to go into the francophone countries with the project”.

Furthermore, Otamere Fredrick Elegon, country manager, Great Place to Work Nigeria, said that project is about collaboration, helping young people achieve success in their endeavours.

“We are here to see how we can provide platform of collaboration and have them understand the benefit of having a good experience working and when people are working in environment of trust they are able to be more productive,” he said.

Eyitayo Ogunmola, founder/CEO, Utiva, lauded the organisers of the programme, describing the initiative as an extension of the work they do at Utiva.

“At Utiva we have trained over 50,000 people, but then this is a market of 650 million young people that need to learn, so we need to improve the capacity to foster better relationship, so that we can reach more young people across the continent and hopefully a better continent for ourselves”.

On his part, Gbemiga Delano, MD/CEO, Manifold Computers Ltd, said that his organisation is partnering with Power Learn Project because they have a good vision to empower one million youths, which according to him is what Nigeria needs.

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