Tech giant Microsoft has formed a promising alliance with Tech4Dev, a Nigerian non-profit social enterprise. Both will join forces to employ 100,000 African youths through Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) within the next seven years.
The initiative seeks to address the prevalent issue of unemployment despite the increasing number of individuals undergoing training across Nigeria and other African nations. Every year, thousands of young people across 54 African countries are trained and churned out as graduates, yet over 42 million Africans are reported to be unemployed. This predicament highlights that training is not enough. Positioning and job creation are equally important- if not more important.
Mrs. Ola Williams, the Director of Microsoft in Nigeria and Ghana, expressed these intentions during the initiative’s launch event in Lagos. She underscored the need to bridge the somewhat wide gap between extensive training programs and limited job opportunities.
Tech4Dev, in collaboration with Taltrix, a business process outsourcing social enterprise, is at the forefront of this effort. Alone, Tech4Dev has directly benefited 41,079 individuals through its programs. The social enterprise has facilitated the employment of over one thousand people for suitable jobs and reached 15 African countries, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Egypt.
Its partnership with Taltrix promises to harness the potential of Africa’s large population of enterprising youth. This would involve providing African youths with employment opportunities aligned with the skills they acquire through training programs. The collaborative efforts promise to not only reduce unemployment rates but also contribute to the development of a skilled and competitive workforce in the digital economy.
Microsoft’s involvement aligns with broader efforts to leverage technology for social and economic development. Time will tell what fruits this partnership bears- hopefully, good ones.
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