SAP, a German market leader in enterprise application software, helping companies run at their best, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), have concluded plans to jointly create 450 jobs for highly qualified personnel in the IT sector in ten African countries.
The collaboration, which was made available to OpenLife by Africa Media Agency, was presented in Berlin on June 27 by German Development Minister Gerd Müller and by Michael Kleinemeier, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and head of SAP Digital Business Services.
The collaboration targets unemployed university
graduates. They will undergo a three-month training programme, followed by
assistance to help them find jobs in local companies.
The programme will cover Algeria, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia. These countries have great
potential for jobs and growth in the digital sector, but they lack well-trained
specialists who can support companies and institutions as they introduce and
operate software products. The project addresses this bottleneck. Its first phase
will start this year in Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Tunisia and Nigeria. As part
of the overall programme, 600 unemployed university graduates will receive
training and certification for jobs in the local IT sector, the aim being to
place at least three out of four programme graduates into employment. This
means that a minimum of 450 new jobs could be created which employers
previously could not fill because applicants did not have the necessary skills
” Africa’s young people need opportunities for
the future – and they urgently need jobs that are viable and that help close
the digital divide and make headway on development. To that end, we have to
seize the great opportunities offered by digital technology. That will only be
possible by working together with the private sector. I thus greatly welcome
our cooperation with SAP. We need more projects of this type in order to create
lasting momentum for Africa’s development, especially in the field of technology,”
said German Development Minister Gerd Müller.
SAP Executive Board Member Michael Kleinemeier said, “Africa has the
youngest population in the world. By 2050, its population will double, reaching
more than 2.5 billion. Giving young people digital skills and IT training will
create jobs and boost growth in Africa. SAP has been supporting Africa for
several years through training and upskilling programmes in the digital sector,
for instance the Young Professional Program and Africa Code Week. Our new collaboration
with the BMZ provides additional opportunities for Africa’s young people and
helps the continent to tap its enormous potential.”
The joint programme is planned to cover a period of three years. It emerged
from the Strategic Partnership “Digital Africa”, a network uniting
German development cooperation players and European companies. The BMZ supports
the joint endeavour through its develoPPP for jobs programme, which fosters
sustainable private sector initiatives in selected countries in Africa as part
of the Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation.
The programme will be implemented by the SAP Training and Development Institute
as part of SAP’s established Young Professional Program, which has already
created more than 2,200 jobs for jobseekers with higher education degrees in 22
countries around the world.
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