Microsoft and Gebeya Inc., a prominent Pan-African tech talent marketplace, have teamed up to introduce the Microsoft.Gebeya.com platform, aimed at addressing Africa’s tech skills gap, nurturing job creation, fostering entrepreneurship, and empowering the continent’s youth with sought-after digital competencies.
This collaboration intends to upskill 300,000 developers in eight African countries over the next three years, including Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Nigeria, Egypt, and Mozambique. The platform will welcome applications from individuals with backgrounds in tech development and computer science, specifically targeting cloud-based solution building.
This venture builds upon previous collaborations between Microsoft and Gebeya. In 2020, they jointly launched the first virtual SkillsLab in Ethiopia, training over 1,200 African software engineers. Now, Gebeya aims to scale up its impact with support from Microsoft.
CEO of Gebeya, Amadou Daffe, expressed that this partnership marks a monumental stride towards unlocking Africa’s talent potential, shaping the future of the continent’s digital economy by creating job opportunities and nurturing technopreneurs.
Microsoft, with almost 30 years of presence in Africa, has actively contributed to boosting the continent’s digital capacity, upskilling more than 4 million young individuals across the continent over the last five years.
Gerald Maithya, General Manager at Microsoft Africa Transformation Office, highlighted the pivotal role of young tech talent in driving Africa’s innovation and emphasized Microsoft’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of developers.
This collaboration aims to empower African tech talent by providing them with advanced proficiency in GitHub Copilot, facilitating applications and software development with enhanced speed and reduced errors.
Key Highlights of the Partnership:
1. Empowering African Tech Talent: Gebeya, supported by Microsoft, is set to train 300,000 developers in building Microsoft Cloud solutions over three years, with an ambitious target of 150,000 developers trained in the first year. The initiative aims to equip developers with advanced proficiency in GitHub Copilot.
2. Matching Skills to Opportunities: The platform, Microsoft.gebeya.com, will certify 100,000 developers on the curriculum and connect them directly with companies in search of their specific talents and services.
3. Creating AI-Driven Employment Opportunities: By integrating AI solutions on Azure, Gebeya aims to streamline the employment search process for African youth by providing recruiters with more precise talent matches based on genuine job relevance.
4. Promoting Technopreneur Readiness: Gebeya plans to identify talented software engineers and empower them to embark on their entrepreneurial journey through skills development, mindset cultivation, and exposure to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Martin Ndlovu, Chief Growth Officer at Gebeya, emphasized the project’s ambitious nature, requiring collective efforts from the entire ecosystem and welcoming partners to contribute to this bold mission.
