Google says it will train Nigerian youths in digital skills under an African programme targeting one million and planned to grow the continent’s digital economy.
Bunmi Banjo, SMB Marketing Manager & Digital Education Lead at Google Africa says in a company statement that the Google initiative will help close the knowledge gap in the under-developed digital skills that makes it harder for African economies to get the most out of the web.
According to the search giant, with the high rate of youth unemployment across Africa (35% in South Africa; 17% in Kenya; 13% in Nigeria), developing digital entrepreneurship and creating new job opportunities for young people is critical to Africa’s transformation and growth.
Under the plan, Google says that its partner, Livity Africa, will run two training programmes: Digify Bytes, aimed at helping young people develop a digital career and Digify Pro, a 3-month immersion program to develop digital specialists for jobs in companies or digital agencies.
Google also announced the launch of digifyafrica.com – an online-learning portal which according to the search company, is designed to be as “light” as possible to help people manage data usage and which will house a range of digital skills tutorials and courses, available to anyone in Africa.
The Digify programs, which are all free, will provide tools & knowledge on subjects including building an online presence, creating content, understanding web design and user experience, social media and app development, Google says, adding that a group of 65 Googlers from nine countries have helped Livity develop content, provide mentor-ship and, in some cases, deliver the training.
“We’re also talking to a number of other potential partners across Africa with a view to scaling the digital skills training program and helping to reach even more young people in more countries. More needs to be done to support people in Africa to succeed in the digital world, and we want to be part of that. The internet offers huge opportunities to start new businesses and grow existing ones, and we’re committed to helping Africans make the most of the digital revolution”, Google says.
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