SAP has said that it will train more than 150, 000 youth from 30 African countries in a bid to foster digital literacy and equip the continent’s youth through their Africa Code Week. Africa Code Week 2016 is slotted to run from October 15 to October 23rd. It will involve thousands of free coding workshops and online trainings for children between the ages of 8 to 24.
The Africa Code Week kick off coincided with The World Economic Forum(WEF) on Africa that is being held in Kigali. The Minister of Youth and ICT of Rwanda, Jean Philbert Nsengimana said that:
“Today literacy should go beyond just knowing how to read and write, even beyond digital literacy- knowing how to use computers. Basic literacy for the next generation should be about coding.”
The workshops for younger children (8-11, 12-17) in Africa Code Week 2016 will be based on Scratch, a MIT Media Lab learning platform that simplifies coding. These children will learn the basics of coding and will be able to program their own animations, quizzes and games. Their older counterparts on the other hand, will be taught Introduction to Web Technologies. They will have a basic understanding of typical website architecture and they will be able to create fully operational, mobile friendly websites.
Organized by SAP, the Africa Code Week has hundreds of partners from local governments, NPOs, NGOs, business and educational institutions. The Managing Director SAP Africa, Brett Parker said:
“Digital literacy is the currency of the digital economy. Africa Code Week is a powerful way to spread digital literacy across the continent and contribute towards building the skilled workforce needed for Africa’s sustainable growth. SAP is proud to spearhead such a meaningful initiative in partnership with more than 100 local and international organizations from the public and private sector.”
The 30 countries where Africa Code Week will run in are: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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