Africa faces a huge digital skills gap, which is diluting economic opportunities and development.  Some 230 million jobs across the continent will require some level of digital skills by 2030, according to a study (https://bit.ly/3rZx4Ms) by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).  This translates to a potential for staggering 650 million training opportunities and an estimated $130 billion market. And, with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many businesses to go digital to survive, the need for these skills has become glaringly more apparent since 2020.

The Chief Growth & Operations Officer for Power Learn Project, Ms. Mumbi Ndung’u said “our goal is to drive transformative change for the youth of Africa through technology skilling. The program will offer online junior software development training, consisting of curated programming languages as well as a soft skills component in employability, and entrepreneurship to enable the learners to acquire entry level smart technology jobs. Through support from partners, the course will be covered on full scholarships, so the learners' only concern is to learn and absorb as much as they can, as they prepare to navigate the digital revolution with us.”

“Upon completion of the course, the learners will have access to a number of opportunities and alternative educational pathways through the organization, ranging from internships and proof of work opportunities or venture studio and incubator connections if they want to explore entrepreneurship.” Further stated Ndung’u.

With 70% of Africa’s population between the ages of 18 and 35 and 60% of this group being under-employed or unemployed, the time to invest in digital advancement is now.

The Power Learn Project program will help address this issue by providing accessible world-class tech education to young Africans across six pilot countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Zambia and later to West and North Africa in phase two.

The hybrid  junior software development training will be conducted on a user friendly Learning Management System and will be guided by Power Learn’s expert instructors. The platform will be free data access meaning no cost of data to the learner

The Power Learn 16 week scholarship program consists of courses:

• Python Programming
• Dart Programming with Flutter
• An introduction to blockchain technologies
• Web technologies (PHP, HTML, JAVA)
• Databases (SQL Programming)
• Employment & Entrepreneurship skills

Learners will earn a certificate upon successful completion of the course and join a community of young skilled Africans ready to take on the digital opportunities.

“We are all working towards the Pan African dream of building relevant capacity to extract value from the fourth industrial revolution.  We invite our partners and especially our learners from across Africa, to join us on this journey of transformation,” says John Kamara, chairman of the board - Power Learn Project.

Power Learn Project Partnership with DOT Kenya

Brief Overview of DOT Kenya:

DOT Kenya's mission is to mobilise and empower underserved youth with digital literacy and 21st century skills to enable them thrive in an inclusive digital economy.

Our programs support basic digital literacy, digital citizenship to more advanced ICT dependent training such as Web design.

The Partnership

There’s an opportunity to partner together to pursue technology capacity building across Africa.

PLP is aiming to train 1 million software engineers across Africa. Through this partnership DOT Kenya will support youth pipelines through their developed network within communities the for PLP program.

DOT Kenya has access to presence in over 17 counties across Kenya, are able to mobilise and train young people on basic digital literacy skills across Kenya which will support PLP’s impact across Africa and align with DOT’s work across Africa.