Experts to Chart Path to Digital Skills Growth and Youths Readiness for Industry 4.0
- The last two decades has seen a major shift in the key drivers of economic growth and job creation
- For a young graduates, especially in Africa having the necessary skills that fits into the fourth industrial revolution is crucial to succeed
- Experts will be gathering to discuss will be discussing with youths on how to be ready for Industry 4.0
The pandemic without doubts has accelerated the way the business world has adopted technologies in its operation and this has had a significant impact on the requirements for workforce skills and capabilities.
According to the World Economic Forum the demand for technological skills (both coding and interacting with technology) is expected to rise by more than 50 per cent in the next decade.
For young people living in Africa, the questions that comes to mind is how Industry 4.0 will continue to play out. How are job roles evolving? What skills is needed to invest in to meet operational changes?
Source: Facebook
The answers to these questions are critical for graduates to be prepared as businesses seek to take full advantage of the opportunities that are arising from digital transformation.
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Digify Africa helps young African graduates become ready
Concern about the gap between African graduates and the rest of the world Digify Africa kicked off a comprehensive, recognized 10-week Bootcamp for digital marketing skill.
According to details from DigifyAfrica website, the programme is designed to prepare them for employment in an agency or to create career opportunities within the digital industry, DigifyPRO offers a rigorous bootcamp-style program that teaches unemployed youth between the ages of 18 and 30 the theoretical and practical aspects of digital marketing, job readiness, and presentation skills.
Graduates from Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa have immensely benefited from it.
Various trainings
South Africa's first cohort was recorded in 2017. Till date, 14 cohorts have been done with about 212 graduates. While the 15th is currently on.
Nigeria started DigifyPro in 2018, successfully empowering 300 young graduates who were previous unemployed prior to starting on the Bootcamp with digital marketing skills. This has been made possible with the completion of 10 cohorts and about 300 unemployed Nigerian graduates' live being touched by providing them with cutting-edge digital skills that they now thrive on.
Kenya started out in 2019 with a cohort of 20 participants. Since 2019, five successful cohorts have been trained 190 participants in total.
In order to strengthen the youth of Africa there was a need for a potent and relevant tool to be employed, to spread like wildfire.
Programme director speaks
Programme director for Nigeria, Florence Atunwa Olumodimu told Legit.ng that since the programme started it has helped improve their financial, mental and social well being of participants.
She said:
"80% of our graduates are able to save money every month, 78% of our DigifyPro graduates have opportunities for a promotion in their current position 67% have received a raise in the last 12 months.
"70% of our graduates are still employed in the digital industry and 100% of graduates recommend the program to others, while many of the graduates across the three countries have also become trainers and project assistants on Meta Boost and PRO bootcamps developing others."
Snippet from the programme success
Ceaser Opudo - Cohort 1 SA joined Digify KE from a data analytics background, yet, without digital skills but was determined to learn.
Through the eight weeks of training, he identified his strength in digital strategy which he then focused on growing.
Currently, he is the digital lead and strategist at Disruptive media, one of Kenya's leading digital marketing agencies. Opudo also trains young talents on digital skills.
DigifyPro Nigeria Cohort 5.0's "Rejoice, Orijene" has had a number of successful campaigns and career advancements, moving up the corporate ladder from content writer to digital lead.
Over the years, she has offered her time as a skills trainer for DigifyNG, HapticsNg, and SkillNg. She had taught young people all aspects of digital strategy, copywriting, campaign data analytics, and SEO content authoring.
Closing the Gap
Speaking to Legit.ng Olumodimu explained that the generation gap of digital competencies has shown us that there are still a lot of challenges for the governments to work on many levels.
She noted that one of them is making sure that all citizens have equal access to effective digital skills education.
She added:
"However, this can be mitigated when someone who has the opportunity passes it on to others who don’t have these digital skills. Empowering Africa’s youth with relevant digital skills have become crucial for the development of youth and the continent.
"Join us on August 24, 2022 to learn much more about starting a career in digital.
We are excited to formally announce that we will host our 2nd Industry Stakeholders Engagement Event. It’s all about ‘Accelerating Talents For Industry 4.0 with Digital Skills! Brought to you by @Digify Africa and supported by @Meta! Participants are expected to registered using tby clicking on this link.
Unemployment Finally Over as Buhari's Govt Opens New Job Application Portal for Graduates
Meanwhile, the federal government has made a decisive move to curb unemployment among Nigerian youths with a new scheme.
The scheme intends to annually employ not less than 20,000 fresh Nigerian graduates who are committed to contributing to the country's economic development
It plans to connect talented graduates with local job opportunities that use their experience while also equipping them with world-class practical knowledge and needed skills.
Source: Legit.ng
