Microsoft and Udemy recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide youth in Africa and the Middle East access to online skills training.
Despite improving economic conditions, youth unemployment all over the world and especially in the MENA region creates cause for concern. World Bank data shows that current youth unemployment in Egypt stands at 38% and over 33% in Jordan. South Africa, despite being one of Africa’s leading economies has youth unemployment of about 54% despite being one of Africa’s leading economies.
Through this partnership, both parties would be providing skills-based course offerings for Udemy’s platform on “YouthWorks”. YouthWorks also known as Ta3mal in the Arab world, is a network of youth employability portals launched by Microsoft and Silatech in April 2012. It is a social initiative which has helped to provide economic opportunities for Arab youth, having reached close to 9 million youth in the Middle East and Africa since inception.
YouthWorks’ solution to youth unemployment is not only to offer job opportunities to interested youth, but to create a platform to equip them with the necessary skills (including soft skills), to help them land and keep these jobs. It also provides them with a platform to access mentorship and guidance and share experiences.
YouthWorks now has specialised country portals developed for Ivory Coast, Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Botswana, Tunisia, Lebanon, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, Kenya Ghana, Palestine, Turkey and South Africa. Microsoft and Silatech are regional partners, who in turn work with close to 100 local partners from the education, governmental, non-profit, and private sectors. All these local partners provide specialised content, job opportunities, and access to services appropriate for their home country.
While speaking about his company’s recent partnership with Microsoft, Dennis Yang, Udemy CEO said “Udemy is deeply committed to providing people around the world with a path to upward mobility. Through this work with Microsoft in the Middle East and Africa, we’re able to connect a very important region with the vital skills needed for today’s workforce. We’re proud to have this opportunity to further open access to education and career skills.”
Jeffrey Avina, Director of Public Affairs and Citizenship, Microsoft Middle East and Africa, also said “YouthWorks bridges the gap between the skills that youth have and the skills employers want. The partnership with Udemy will enable us to provide even more highly professional courses on YouthWorks, making it an even more effective platform enabling youth to pursue their dreams.”