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Digital Talent Development in Ethiopia to Foster Innovation and Address Youth Unemployment
Summary
Details of Implementation
As part of a larger collaboration initiative with the Government of Ethiopia and Safaricom Ethiopia to promote "Digital Ethiopia 2025", JICA is launching a pilot program for software engineering education targeting university students and young people. We are looking for a digital partner that explore the program together to jointly develop the curriculum, select participants, and deliver the education.
Digital Partner
Timeline
The nine-month program will run from August 2023 to March 2024
Status
Index
Project Context
In 2020, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MinT) announced the "Digital Ethiopia 2025" strategy, which sets out a bold vision to digitalize the country and harness technology for key economic sectors. Meanwhile, more than 30% of Ethiopian students graduating in IT-related fields face the challenge of un-/underemployment. To foster innovation and address the severe professional/youth employment problem in Ethiopia, JICA, in collaboration with MinT, Safaricom Ethiopia and Sumitomo Corporation, is jointly launching a digital talent upskilling program. This DXLab project is positioned as an inaugural initiative for a stakeholder concerted effort for the "Digital Ethiopia 2025" as well as a Proof of Concept (PoC) for the establishment of the program.
During the PoC, the program will focus on skills development to kick-start full-time engineering careers for Addis Ababa-based university students and youth specializing in computer science or related STEM fields. The nine-month program will run from August 2023 to March 2024, with an initial two months of preparation. As a digital partner for this PoC, JICA is seeking a company/organization that will jointly develop the curriculum, select the participants, implement the training program, and provide career support for job placement.
RELATED MATERIALS
Project members
Digital Partner
Gebeya is a Training Institution Partner for this program, delivering the overall training utilizing its industry experience in technology upskilling. Gebeya will be bringing its well-qualified trainers to deliver the training program in the next 8 months to beginner and advanced participants in the areas of DevOps, front-end development, and back-end development with a well-tailored curriculum.
Gebeya, Inc. is a pan-African SaaS-enabled marketplace headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with offices in Kenya, Senegal, and the US. We actively contribute to Africa's gig economy by connecting African talent with global job opportunities. Gebeya offers a network of highly skilled, certified African talent to clients worldwide, along with SaaS features for marketplace owners. Startups, SMBs, and corporations, including those in telecom and transportation, rely on Gebeya for talent to fuel their growth.
Gebeya Official website
Amadou Daffe
GEBEYA LIMITED, CEO and Co-founder
This project is in line with our mission of supporting the youth by educating them and helping them access dignified job opportunities. In this pilot program, we want to take these young men and women one step further in their educational journey, where they get equivalent to real-life experience in the software engineering world so that they are able to advance in their careers upon finishing this program.
Project Owner
Bethlehem Tameru Gebre
Safaricom Ethiopia, Business Strategy Manager
Safaricom Ethiopia is proud to have partnered with JICA & Gebeya for launching this exciting PoC initiative aimed at bridging the gap between the current tech skills in the market and the tech industry standards. The Software Development Training Program is co-developed with this in mind and provides hands-on practical training to help access industry-standard job placements. The program is committed to improving youth employment rates in Ethiopia, and we believe that such young talent can create new value for the development of the Ethiopian economy. Based on the outcome of this PoC, we have a vision to scale-up this training and deliver it nationwide so that it has an even greater impact to deliver the country’s ‘Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy’!
Sponsor
Kastuki Morihara
Japan International Cooperation Agency, Chief Representative, JICA Ethiopia Office (As of 04/2023)
JICA is committed to supporting Ethiopia achieve its digital transformation and economic development goals. We are excited to launch a new digital talent program that will train young people for careers in engineering. This program will help to create a more skilled workforce and a more competitive economy, and it has the potential to make a real difference in the lives of Ethiopians.
Partner Relationship
PoC Implementation Requirements
Details of Implementation
The outline of the project work is as follows. Please see the RFP for details.
- Development of practical training curriculum in software engineering
- Recruitment of participants for the program (about 50 university students/youth)
- Arrangement of training lecturers
- Management of training venues in Addis Ababa
- Implementation of training program
Timeline
The nine-month program will run from August 2023 to March 2024
Required Technologies
- Software Engineering EducationJoint development of software engineering educational content and operations of the program
- Learning Management PlatformTo add visibility to the learning/project progress (if relevant)
Info Session
【Past Event】We plan to host an information session for bidders in the week of April 17th, 2023 (GC). Refer to the RFP for details.
For those interested in co-creation with JICA DX
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