There is a growing number of coding and digital training programs in Africa. The said programs aim to equip the youth with ICT skills that render them competitive in the digital economy. 

Last Friday, July 15, on the sidelines of the World Youth Skills Day, the African Development Bank (AfDB) announced the selection of 500 Coding for Employment digital ambassadors “who will lead a peer-to-peer training model.”  

The selected digital ambassadors will undergo three months of training in digital skills such as software development, problem-solving, project management, and communication.  At the end of the training, they will receive ICT toolkits to “offer the same training” in their local communities to allow access to digital skills for more Africans, in rural communities with limited internet connectivity notably.  

For this first edition of the digital ambassador program, AfDB (through its Coding for Employment) and its technical partner Microsoft, received 21,000 applications from all over Africa. In the end, 500 young people from four countries where the AfDB's Coding for Employment program is operational were selected. Those countries are notably Côte d'Ivoire (75 selected), Kenya (100), Nigeria (150), and Senegal (175).

“We are delighted by the enthusiasm and the passion the candidates have shown for the program. We have sifted through all the applications to identify candidates whose backgrounds and qualifications closely match the selection criteria. The 500 candidates will not only acquire skills that can help them find work but will also be able to create their jobs while also training others,"  said Hendrina Doroba, the AfDB’s Head of Education and Skills Development.

Coding for Employment, launched in 2018, is one of AfDB’s programs to achieve the goals of its Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) Strategy.  It aims to enable the youth “to bring about economic and social transformation in the digital age.”   

With the JfYA strategy, the AfDB wants to create 25 million jobs in key sectors and increase the employability and entrepreneurial success of some 50 million young people by training them in hard and soft skills. 

Samira Njoya