Martin Camp is a man with two formidable goals – both fuelled by grit, discipline and vision. As Managing Director of NIL Africa, a provider of learning solutions for the technology industry, he’s driving a world-wide mission to upskill Cisco network engineers. At the same time, he’s preparing to tackle one of the world’s toughest endurance events – the Dakar Rally.
Camp’s energy is infectious, balancing good humour with deep conviction. “Cisco skills make economies work,” he explains. “About 80% of leading enterprises rely on Cisco networks, and the certification they value most is the CCIE. Earning one changes lives.”
The challenge? Attaining it. The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) demands around 1 500 hours of study, culminating in an intense written exam and an eight-hour practical lab. For working professionals, that’s roughly 30 hours of weekly study – no small feat.
From problem to purpose
When COVID-19 hit, many engineers stopped training. The result was a severe shortage of skilled professionals, especially across Africa. Camp saw the problem clearly – and set out to fix it.
“After COVID, South Africa had approximately 70 practising CCIEs, and the entire sub-Sahara, with a population of around 1.2 billion people, had only 300 CCIEs,” he says. “By comparison, the UK had 930 and Australia 910. Without enough engineers, economies simply don’t function efficiently.”
His solution was Project 525 – an ambitious plan to train 500 new CCIEs by 2025. Hence the term 525 arose. “It was bold, but achievable,” Camp says with a grin.
Securing buy-in from Cisco was the first step; the next was addressing the daunting approximate 92% global first-time lab fail rate. NIL Africa built a proprietary platform to track each learner’s study commitment, linking data to a mentoring model focused on accountability and support.
“The key difference is mentorship,” Camp explains. “Not instructors – mentors. They guide each learner individually, with progress feedback shared directly with sponsors. That means timely intervention before anyone falls behind.”
The result? An extraordinary 68.5% first-time pass rate for the first set of cohorts. The 525 programme supports CCIEs in the following verticals – enterprise infrastructure, service provider, security and data centre. Collaboration and DevNet will soon be added to the 525 programme, along with the esteemed CCDE on the cards as well.
Project 525’s success has since expanded beyond Africa into the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. For Camp, the impact goes far beyond professional success.
Leading by example
Camp doesn’t ask others to do what he isn’t prepared to do himself. With an IT engineering degree and decades of experience in the networking and learning industry, he understands the depth of commitment required to achieve technical excellence. Now, he’s channelling that same discipline and endurance into his personal challenge – the Dakar Rally 2026. The race spans 8 000km of desert across Saudi Arabia, testing both physical and mental resilience. Riders face stages of up to 900km, navigating without GPS through treacherous terrain at speeds exceeding 160km/h.
At 59, Camp is training more than 25 hours a week, often riding 800km days through the Namibian desert. “Success requires sacrifice,” he says simply. “Comfort rarely leads to greatness – hardship does.”
The power of perseverance
Camp’s track record of endurance speaks volumes – from a class win at the Baja 1000 Off-Road Race in Mexico and a British Enduro Championship round victory, to multiple Roof of Africa finishes in Lesotho. He has completed 28 marathons, three Comrades Marathons, two Dusi Canoe Marathons, the Midmar Mile and countless mountain-bike races across South Africa, including Wines2Whales, Sani2C and the gruelling Cape Epic. For him, these achievements are more than medals; they embody the same discipline, resilience and persistence that drive both personal and professional growth. “Both require the same mindset – commitment, focus and the will to finish,” he reflects. “Our CCIE candidates put in 1 500 hours of hard work. I see their journey mirrored in mine.”
With the Dakar age limit set at 60, Camp’s race is against time. But as with Project 525, he’s all in. “When we present Project 525 overseas, people can’t believe what African learners overcome to succeed. Their grit, their results – that’s true resilience. And being part of it? There’s nothing more rewarding.”
Follow Camp’s journey to Dakar: @dreamsanddust_Follow NIL Africa’s Project 525: nil.co.za/project-525
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