As part of the Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy, the African Development Bank’s Coding for Employment program works to provide youth with access to digital tools and equip them with the ICT, entrepreneurship and soft skills training required to compete in a digital economy.
Working in partnership with Microsoft, about 2,000 youth, 46 percent of which are women, have benefited across five countries since 2018.
Odetola Oluwapelumi, a university graduate in Nigeria, struggled to find work upon graduating, and as a result, settled as the manager of her husband’s chicken farm. She transformed her digital education into a paid position as a labeling and annotation agent for an online company.
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“The training has been beneficial to me because as a nursing mother with no job, I had nothing to support the family,” Oluwapelumi says. “But now, I’ve been able to work remotely from home.”
The unfolding pandemic exacerbates employment uncertainties and rates of unemployment across the globe, especially for youth. To date, over 18,000 users across 45 countries have taken courses on the Coding for Employment’s digital platform, with a significant surge since the COVID-19 outbreak. By offering relevant training for youth, the African Development Bank strives to do its part to build back better Africa in the post-COVID world.
Source: AfDB