Skills for Africa graduates drive digital revolution

From MARIA MACHARIA in Nairobi, Kenya
NAIROBI, (CAJ News) –MORE than 50 skilled youths have graduated from an expanded East African SAP Skills for Africa programme, providing a boost to digital transformation initiatives in East Africa.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the Kenya School of Government in Nairobi, Head of SAP Skills for Africa, Meena, said all 52 graduates had already been placed at partner and customer organizations in the region.
This year marked SAP’s first expanded East Africa programme, with candidates from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda completing their training in key SAP solutions.
In line with the company’s commitment to diversity, Confait announced that 40 percent of graduates are female.
“We wish all graduates well as they enter the regional workforce and apply their hard-earned digital expertise,” Confait said.
SAP Skills for Africa is a skills development initiative between SAP
Africa, its customers, and various public and private sector partners, and focuses on training and certifying graduates in a broad spectrum of SAP software and business solutions.
Since its inception in 2012, it has provided training and industry job placement opportunities for more than 400 consultants, with more than a third of them assimilated through the partnership with the ICT Authority.
Dr Gilbert Saggia, Managing Director: East Africa at SAP Africa, said this year’s graduates would have a major impact on local organisations’ digital transformation efforts.
With small and medium enterprises SMEs accounting for as much as 80 percent of all new jobs created on the continent, it is critical to support and drive the success of the sector.
There is an estimated 7,5 million SMEs contributing up to 44 percent of the country’s GDP. However, they are hindered by factors including inadequate skills and rapid technology changes.
Saggia said as the Fourth Industrial Revolution accelerated, organisations ranging from large enterprises to SMEs would need scarce digital skills to ensure their success in a dynamic business environment.
“We look forward to building on the success of the past few years, and look forward to seeing how today’s graduates make their presence felt at our valued partner and customer ecosystem,” he said.
Joe Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of ICT, emphasised the importance of such collaborative efforts to create jobs in Kenya’s ecosystem through skills.
In line with the National ICT Master Plan, the development of quality ICT human resources is a pre- requisite to the development of a viable ICT sector.
“Therefore, the training and certification is playing a key role by equipping the unemployed youth with the right skills to run the most
demanding applications in the market,” Mucheru said.