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Binance offers rural SA women Web3 training

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 19 Jan 2023

Crypto exchange Binance, through its philanthropic arm Binance Charity, yesterday announced that it is working with Women in Tech to provide Web3 vocational training for 2 800 women in rural communities in South Africa and Brazil, creating future entrepreneurs and job creation.

In a statement, Binance, which operates the largest crypto-currency exchange in the world in terms of daily trading volumes, says Web3 focuses on blockchain education and understanding of core concepts in crypto-currency.

According to the firm, training focusses on a large variety of skills for trends in this space including coding, blockchain application, crypto-currency, decentralisation, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), metaverse, fan token and trading.

In addition to these training programmes, Binance has collaborated with UTIVA in Nigeria to educate 50 000 young people in Blockchain/Web3 and provide scholarships for 1 000 Africans in a one-year intensive skill training programme, supporting them to move into employment.

The world’s leading crypto-currency and blockchain infrastructure provider has also revealed that applications to study Web3 education have reached 82 200 in just six months.

It says over $2.2 million in Binance USD was donated during 2022 with projects spanning South Africa, Senegal, Nigeria, Australia, Germany, Cyprus, Ukraine, France and Brazil, offering students the opportunity to study Web3-related courses free of charge.

“So far our donations have funded 259 180 hours of training and education in the classroom, in bootcamps and in community workshops,” says the crypto exchange in a statement.

In total Binance Charity will be offering 67 155 scholarship places but many of these are yet to even open to applications, it adds.

Binance Charity is partnering with Binance Academy and a number of top academic and vocational institutions to deliver these projects including the University of Western Australia, the University of Nicosia, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management – Blockchain Center, Simplon, Utiva and Women in Tech, Kyiv IT Cluster and Ministry of Digital Transformation in Ukraine.

“The response to our Web3 education projects has been unprecedented, showing the keen appetite of so many people to learn about blockchain, DeFi [decentralised finance], NFTs, coding and much more,” said Helen Hai, head of Binance Charity.

“And, we’re seeing interest from a diverse range of people, including a great ratio of women, which is something I feel particularly passionate about. With so many more education initiatives with amazing partners in the pipeline, we’ve never been more excited to build a more inclusive Web3 world.”

IT Generation kick-started the global Binance Charity Scholar Programme in June, an initiative designed to help Eastern Ukrainians, who have lost their jobs due to the war, to re-train and re-enter the job market in Western Ukraine, in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Binance notes that other projects include vocational training for 10 000 people, including a specific course for 2 000 women reducing the gender gap in the ecosystem and increasing diversity of talent supply with the Frankfurt School of Blockchain, Germany.

“In France, we’ve partnered with Simplon to enable 10 000 people from disadvantaged communities in France – where unemployment is rapidly rising – to learn, study and enter the growing Blockchain industry,” the firm says.

“What we saw was really interesting – I knew a little bit about the world of crypto-currency before, but this time, I really got to learn about blockchain technology. It was really clear – I had no idea you could do so much with it. I can’t wait to learn more,” comments Terry Genly, a student at Simplon

Courses are available both online and offline, varying in length from short intro classes to 12-monthth commitment.

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