… says project was to tackle unemployment, reduce drain in tech industry

By Chinedu Adonu

Not less than 20 young graduates from the Southeast region have been selected to participate in the second edition of Hackathon Africa organized by the AfricaPlan Foundation, a US-based non-profit organisation.

The fully-funded residential programme, which will last for three months, had over 600 applications from the region, out of which 20 graduates were shortlisted to join this year’s cohort.

It was gathered that the Hackathon Africa 2.0 training, spotlighting AI and large language model was aimed  to tackle young graduates unemployment and reduce Technology drain in South East.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the programme with the theme: Generative AI: The Future of Tech, founder of the AfricaPlan Foundation, Mr Oni Chukwu, said that the programme will provide an opportunity for the young people to invest in themselves for a future in technology and also give back to the society. 

He said that the Foundation was partnering with Hordanso, a technology company specializing in software development for mobile & web platforms for this year’s programme to give the participants hands-on training on Generative AI and how it can be used to solve problems. 

“I urge you to ensure that you stay with the program and do everything you are supposed to do to make the Foundation and yourselves proud.

“Always remember that you have opportunities to become relevant to the world around you with what skills you are able to acquire,” he said.

Earlier, chairman of the Board of Directors, Africaplan Foundation, Priscilla Iroaganachi noted that the participants will be coding, growing a community and collaborating for the next three months after which they will be matched with companies.

She said that the training was aimed at tackling the unemployment among young graduates and reduce the drain in South East region.

“The internship lasts for three months and within that period, we expect that they are able to apply what they have learned in the industry and also improve on what they know already,”she said. 

“We also encourage that they come up with project designs that we can support and ensure that they stand on their feet.” 

On his part, Managing Director of Hordanso, Mog Obahor, said that the partnership provides an opportunity for the organization to harness the power of generative AI which is the new oil in tech.

“We want to see how we can harness the power of AI and make it applicable to different industries and also drive the vision of transforming young people in the tech space,”he said.

One of the participants, Amarachi Iheaka who expressed gratitude to AfricaPlan Foundation for giving her opportunity to learn, assured she would impact the knowledge to others for community development.