Tech skills development in Africa is increasingly moving beyond traditional classroom settings as organizations adopt innovative approaches to tackle the prevalent skills shortage.
Kholiwe Makhohliso, Managing Director at SAP Southern Africa, emphasizes the importance of upskilling and leveraging Africa’s vast talent pool for the continent’s future success. The demand for professionals with relevant digital skills is high due to the continuous impact of technology on industries and businesses across the continent. Organizations must adopt new strategies for skills development to keep up with the rapid advancements in cloud, AI, and other transformative technologies.
SAP’s 2023 report titled ‘Africa’s Tech Skills Scarcity Revealed’ highlighted the significant challenges faced by organizations in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria in terms of skills availability. A shortage of tech skills negatively affects most companies, with four out of five reporting consequences from this lack of skills.
Although the global tech skills gap persists, with a survey by McKinsey revealing that 87% of senior executives worldwide believe their companies are not adequately prepared to address the gap, the situation can be more critical for African organizations.
Cloud, AI skills in high demand
According to Manos Raptopoulos, President of SAP EMEA, the importance of skills availability has increased due to the ongoing impact of cloud and artificial intelligence in the region. Enterprises are leveraging new cloud and AI capabilities to transform their business models, drive growth, and foster innovation. As these technologies shape the business landscape, access to relevant skills becomes crucial for organizations to fully leverage the opportunities presented by the cloud and AI revolution.
In 2023, SAP introduced new learning opportunities for developers focusing on cloud and generative AI capabilities. The company also launched role-based certification and free learning resources for back-end developers globally as part of a commitment to upskill two million professionals by 2025.
Work-ready skills for graduates
The SAP Young Professionals Program (YPP) offered by the Digital Skills Centre of SAP enables young talent, particularly graduates, to learn about the latest SAP technology and innovation. The program covers software functional and technical knowledge, certification, and soft skills essential for entering the workplace.
Since its inception in 2012, the SAP Young Professionals Program has trained over 4100 candidates globally, with more than 1900 in Africa alone. Graduates, like Vincent Mabeka from South Africa, have benefitted from the program by improving their skills, gaining hands-on experience, and securing job opportunities.
Youth skills development in focus
With Africa having the world’s fastest-growing youth population, efforts to develop digital skills must extend to the continent’s young people. SAP Africa Code Week (ACW) is a coding skills development program aimed at empowering youth and is held annually in partnership with UNESCO, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, and Irish Aid.
Since its launch in 2015, ACW has empowered 17 million young people across 54 countries with coding and computational thinking skills. The program has also collaborated with NGOs and governments to incorporate coding into national curricula.
In partnership with UNICEF and other organizations, SAP introduced a pilot project in 2023 called SAP Educate to Employ, targeting underserved youth aged 16 to 24. The initiative provides foundational soft skills knowledge through the Student Zone portal on SAP’s learning site to prepare youth for potential careers in technology.
Makhohliso emphasizes the importance of collaboration with a diverse range of partners to address youth skills challenges in Africa and inspire the continent’s youth to pursue careers in technology, ultimately positioning Africa as a key player in the future digital economy.