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Tech Firm Dedicates $8M To Digital Skills Training In Africa

Tech Firm Dedicates $8M To Digital Skills Training In Africa

Tech firm Sagarmatha Technologies has announced plans to invest $8 million in skills training that will aim to empower Africans across the continent with coding and other digital skills that are currently in short supply.

The Cape Town-based firm will realize its skills training goals by partnering with certified African and global learning institutions, according to ITWeb.

The investment will enable the training of 5,000 African computer coders, with their training set to take place between 2018 and 2022.

Paul Lamontagne, chairman of Sagarmatha Technologies, explained the vision that the company has for the African tech ecosystem.

“Silicon Africa is a virtual model of the renowned Silicon Valley in the U.S. and seeks to develop a pan-African ecosystem inclusive of governments and decision makers, universities and technical colleges, venture capitalists, NGO’s, incubators and accelerators, technology companies and most importantly, digital entrepreneurs,” explained Lamontagne, according to ITNewsAfrica.

“We believe this ground-breaking initiative will lead to 5,000 learners receiving short learning programme certificates in software development, such as Java, C++, and C# programming, as well as database and web design, so they are coder-ready,” he said.

“Sagarmatha believes African economies can be re-engineered by creating digital jobs,” he added.

Skills training and new offices

Only South African learners  may apply for the first year of training, before applicants from the rest of the continent are admitted to the program.

Those who complete the program will have the option of staying on for a second year of study that will focus on another area of software development or to benefit from a one-year membership in a tech hub, incubator, accelerator or other similar accredited partner, making them more attractive to potential employers.

With the company headquartered in Cape Town, the tech firm is looking to launch additional offices throughout Africa, according to IOL.

Sagarmatha will open regional offices in other parts of Africa over the next 12-18 months, with each of these designed as collaborative workspaces where Sagarmatha group companies will have access to local and regional tech communities, as well as the resources required for sustained growth.