The Ondo state government is partnering with tech giant SAP to host the 2017 edition of the Africa Code Week (ACW). ACW is a continent-wide initiative to spark the interest of African children, teenagers and young adults in software coding, returns for the 2017 edition
The Week is one of SAP’s social investments to drive sustainable growth in Africa, transforming the story of hundreds of schools, teachers, governments, businesses and non-profits. In Nigeria, Ondo State Government has embraced the ambitious goals of this initiative and became actively involved in an attempt to secure effective youth employment interventions in State, as well as the country in general.
From 22nd to 23rd August, over 200 teachers, unemployed graduates and volunteers will be trained in coding and web development by SAP staff and volunteers.
The event, which will be holding at Ilara-Mokin via Akure, is preparatory to the October 18th to 25th live events where in Ondo State, Nigeria and other towns and cities in 35 countries across Africa, youth from three different age groups (8-11; 12-17; 18-24) will participate in free coding activities, organized by SAP and its partners.
Speaking on the ACW, Olumbe Akinkugbe, the State’s Senior Special Adviser on ICT, Mr emphasized the need of ICT empowerment for Ondo State youths. He described “ICT is an enabler and a must-have skill for students aspiring to compete favourably within the global knowledge economy”.
Mr Olumbe also explained that the Governor of the state His Excellency Governor Akeredolu is committed to ensuring that youths within the state gain skills that would enable them to innovate and make impactful changes in their communities.
The SSA applauded SAP’s dedication “to spread digital literacy across the continent and start shaping tomorrow’s skilled workforce for sustainable growth in Africa”.
Claire Gillissen-Duval, director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility at SAP and Africa Code Week Global Lead says: “SAP has embraced the view that training workers for a digital economy. is our corporate responsibility. Furthermore, we believe that leading companies have a moral obligation to initiate people into the modern economy, regardless of where they come from.”
SAP already invests in Skills for Africa, which provides additional business and IT skills to recent university graduates and secures employment for these graduates via their partner and customer ecosystem.
Commenting on the level of preparations for the 2017 edition, in Nigeria, Mr. Olajide Ademola Ajayi, Nigeria’s Coordinator of Africa Code Week, said that Ondo State Government’s interest to partner with SAP on the initiative is a welcome development, adding that participants should expect gain knowledge of creative computing through hands-on, playful learning, that typify Africa Code Week- the coding enablement program for Africa’s teeming young generation.
He further stated, “We are grateful to Ondo State Government for taking this initiative seriously. In Nigeria, people think that IT, computing and the likes are synonymous with major cities like Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. Truly, these States and the FCT are doing very well; however, there is a pressing need to spread this far and wide, from Lagos to Cairo, from Timbuktu to Cape Town. Collectively, SAP along with public and private enterprises need to ensure that no child is left behind irrespective of geographical location.
Mr. Pedro Guereiro, managing director, SAP West Africa, confirms: “When it comes to accessing higher skills development, training thousands of teachers, parents and educators across 35 African countries and providing access to them online courses, beyond the actual live event in October, allows to multiply efforts and impact.”
He affirmed that the inaugural Africa Code Week saw 89,000 youth participate across 17 countries in 2015, growing to 426,758 across 30 countries in 2016 – beating the target of 150,000 by a huge margin.
ACW reinforces SAP’s commitment to education, creating a full lifecycle of skills support for young people in Africa. With a goal to empower 200,000+ teachers and positively impact the lives of 5M young Africans over the next 10 years, ACW is built to be sustainable and provide long-term impact.
