Oracle is moving to bridge the ICT skills shortage gap in Africa.
The company says the dramatic advancement of technology over the past five years has resulted in a gap in IT competencies and skills availability. Organisations in Africa are adopting new technologies at a rate which is outstripping the availability of appropriately qualified staff, it says.
During the Oracle OpenWorld 2014 conference in San Francisco this week, the company unveiled an initiative designed to enrich and increase the skills capacity of IT practitioners in Africa.
The US-based software company says the four-pronged programme was devised as a response to the rapid adoption of new technologies by governments and businesses in Africa, exacerbating the shortage of suitably skilled practitioners to use the systems to the best advantage.
The programme's four elements are: employee readiness, ecosystem readiness, workforce readiness and youth readiness.
Speaking during a media briefing, Lo"ic le Guisquet, executive vice president for Oracle EMEA, said when it comes to looking forward, there is no area more important than looking at the development of people.
"That is why we are announcing new initiatives in Africa, working alongside governments as well as private sector and non-profit organisations, to put in place a long-term strategy to provide people with the IT skills to power those emerging economies."
The company has already started programmes in SA, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda where, according to Alfonso Di Ianni, senior vice president, Oracle East Central Europe, Middle East and Africa (ECEMEA), the company has started investment. However, he did not give the value of the investments.
The programme includes offering internships, funding innovation centres and providing practical IT training for the youth.
"Today IT holds the promise to promote social inclusion, combat corruption, expand the digital economy and enable stronger links between citizens and governments, businesses and customers, NGOs and the communities they serve," said Di Ianni.
"They can do this and at the same time dramatically reduce costs and improve efficiency. However, for technology to support such transformation, organisations must have ready access to people capable of setting up and maintaining these systems."
He also pointed out that, according to research, in the near future Africa will have about 500 million people below the age of 20. "So we need to start looking at developing this generation from primary school level, through high school and up to university.
"This generation is a great natural resource for Africa. We need to support the continent because in the future, it will be the only place on the globe where there will be growth of population. China will slow down; India will slow down; but Africa will continue to grow," he said.
Orfhlaith Ni Chorcora, senior director, business development ECEMEA, said the company is engaging with various governments to ensure skills development in Africa.
"We have also noticed that the some tertiary institutes are not providing the students with the necessary skills required in the work environment," she said.
"We are also encouraging the youth of Africa to create their own jobs, because getting employment is proving difficult. We are encouraging tech entrepreneurship so that these young people will be able to create solutions for African problems and even take these solutions beyond Africa. They should also be able to create jobs for other people on the continent," she added.
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