MTN has launched the MTN Skills Academy to develop people across the continent as producers, consumers and innovators of digital technologies.

The ‘Digital Skills for Digital Jobs’ programme aims to enhance the link between digital skills training and demand for jobs, with the MTN Skills Academy acting as an accessible-to-all tool.

MTN’s operations across Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia will be the first to roll out the MTN Skills Academy this year, followed by the MTN Group’s other markets in 2023.

“We aim to create solutions that enhance opportunities and tackle some of the challenges that Africa faces. Unemployment is chief among these, exacerbated by low digital literacy, access and skills,” says MTN Group chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer Nompilo Morafo.

The initiative complements the programmes being deployed across Rwanda and the continent, enhancing the ecosystem, said Rwanda’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology and Innovation Paula Ingabire during the launch on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress Africa in Kigali, Rwanda.

“We are particularly pleased to have the tools to get to hard-to-reach places by getting devices into people’s hands so that they can participate in the initiative and get the necessary skills to be employable.”

Of sub-Saharan Africa’s 200-million young people, around 38-million are not in any form of education, employment or training, explains MTN Rwanda CEO Mapula Bodibe.

“This number is rising, and young women are more than twice as likely to be affected as young men, according to the International Labour Organisation. The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development says that 60% of youth and adults must have at least a minimum level of proficiency in sustainable digital skills by 2025,” he continues.

The MTN Skills Academy, along with various public- and private-sector partners, focuses on digital solutions to make career guidance accessible to all young people; access to free online digital and financial skills training; driving work readiness to enhance employment prospects; and creating a public- and private-sector-wide job hub to improve job placement prospects across Africa.

The inclusive programme features low-data use; zero-rating in select markets; and country-specific and language functionality; as well as features that enable its use by differently abled persons.

“It leverages the strengths of partners, including the PACE Career Centre, to provide comprehensive career guidance, and online learning provider Coursera, to provide basic, intermediate and advanced technology and business skills training.”