On Valentine’s Day my team at Futuresoft and I launched Skillup Africa our Corporate Social Investment Initiative focused on positioning Nigeria for the 4th Industrial Revolution and ensuring that we have a future work-ready youth population.

The launch kicked off a 12-month Digital Skills training of 45 boys aged 10-15 who live in the Correctional Centre for Junior Boys in Birrel.

Also read: Despite low adoption rate, satellite still bridges digital divide in Nigeria – Brown, YahClick’s Africa VP

The initiative was launched in collaboration with The Bake For Change Development Initiative and is proudly supported by Bricks4Kids.

Global trends have shown that the most in-demand skills revolve around Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Machine Learning, Blockchain Technology and other emerging technologies.

60% of all children under 12 years today, will work in jobs that don’t exist yet, created by the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution, yet our educational system continues to produce graduates that lack the skills required by employers. This mismatch is part of what drives unemployment rates as they exceed 33%.

The 14th of February marked the beginning of a one-year Digital Skills training program that is focused on training the boys in the home on basic digital literacy, branding & graphic design, digital marketing, Social Media Marketing, Web Development, Introduction to Coding, Data Analytics, etc.

We have designed a curriculum that is tailored made for them and have put together experts from the tech space that will help deliver this curriculum alongside our team.

The bigger picture is to develop a toolbox that other tech companies can use and take into low-income schools and homes in their communities to spread the digital skills gospel.

The launch event held at the home started with a quick talk and introductions of team members followed by an amazing Lego Technic building session facilitated by Brick4Kids/STEM METS and closed out with our guest speaker, John Obidi, who shared his story and how Digital has helped him become successful!

During the event, I asked the boys if they knew what the Internet is and none of the 45 boys knew. I almost cried. They are 10-15 years old and a whole world of opportunities is hidden from them. This made me realise that the Digital divide is two-fold….there is the global digital divide that exists between our citizens and their peers abroad and then there is the local digital divide that exists within us – people with access and people without. This is a dangerous place to be, most likely more dangerous than the global divide as we are creating more economic disparity than ever before and are excluding a big part of our population from the Digital Economy.

There’s a lot of work that has to be done across the continent and we are starting by being the change we want to see and will be training the kids on important and practical digital skills every Friday for the next one year and I honestly can’t wait to see what they will learn!

My team and I are very excited about this project and can’t wait to graduate our first set of trainees and also beat our chest proudly and say, Yes, we have raised the next generation of techies. Imagine how this can change the trajectory of the boys forever.

Vanguard