World Bank made a 15-years projection that states, “by 2034, Africa is expected to have the world’s largest working-age population of 1.1 billion—yet only 3 to 4 million jobs are created annually in the continent”. The current jobs available in the continent are not enough to cater to the present population because demand on particular skillsets that are not common. As such, the future generation will be unable to cater for their own needs and those of the global demand because of the gap between the jobs available in the world and the skills demanded for by global companies. Google decided to step in and bridge that gap through the provision of scholarship opportunities for developers with little or no training and those with some skill set to prepare them for the available jobs.
In July 2017, Google through the CEO, Sundar Pichai, recommitted to bridging the digital skills gap in Africa by committing to prepare 10 million people for future jobs in five years. One of the outcomes of this commitment was the provision of a mobile developers training to 100,000 Africans to enable them develop world-class apps.
Over the years, two of such trainings have held and another window of opportunity has been opened again for the third batch of admission. This year as part of the 100,000 mobile developers training commitment, 30,000 scholarship opportunities are open with 1,000 grants for the Google Associate Android Developer, Mobile Web Specialist, and Associate Cloud Engineer certifications. The scholarship opportunity will be delivered by two Google partners – Pluralsight and Andela through an online learning curriculum to prepare learners to be software developers. Three skills development tracks are available: Google Android, Web and Cloud technologies which will better equip developers in the continent to gain more skills and earn more than they used to while they can compete for jobs in the global circle.
Pluralsight is an online technology learning platform which will provide useful training content, while the Andela ALC program will provide mentorship to learners enrolled in this program. Google’s developer certifications are performance-based and are developed around a job-task analysis which test learners for skills that employers expect developers to have.
You will be asked to choose one of the skills development tracks, after which you will be eligible to receive a Google certification grant to take the Google Associate Android Developer, Mobile Web Specialist, and Associate Cloud Engineer certification exams.
You can apply and register for the scholarship here. The opportunity will be opened from April 14, 2019 to May 15, 2019. The criteria for applying are quite simple:
- You must be at least 18 years of age
- Be a resident of a country in Africa.
Adaobi Frank, one of the recipients of the Google scholarship and grant share her story on how she walked through the process and how the certification has helped her life and her family in this video.
Opportunities For Africans
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Featured image source: Google Developers Blog