Stakeholders Chart New Roadmap to Address IT Skills Gap in Africa
Emma Okonji
Industry stakeholders have stressed the need for more impactful initiatives that would close the existing gaps in Information Technology (IT) skills in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
The stakeholders who spoke at a recent breakfast forum organised by Digital Jewels, also discussed the need for industry collaboration to identify the skills required to develop the teeming youth population in Nigeria and the African continent, with a clearly mapped out plan for deploying them.
The breakfast forum, with the theme: The IT Skills Quagmire-A Resolution Roadmap, was designated for C-level stakeholders who understand the negative impact of IT skills gap on the productivity of the enterprises they lead.
Attendees were drawn from various sectors including Financial/Fintech services, Telecommunications, Oil and Gas, Regulatory, Non-profit, Technology solutions, and Manufacturing, which they believed, have large consumers of IT skills.
In her presentation, titled- A Situational Analysis and the Solution, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Digital Jewels, Mrs. Adedoyin Odunfa, decried the IT skills gap in the educational system, which she said has led to the under-development of the much needed technical and soft skills that job seekers require.
She said the COVID-19 pandemic became an eye-opener for every stakeholder to further understand what it means to be employable, having exposed the digital talent gap in Nigeria and Africa.
“The pandemic increased the demand for skills in data analysis, digital strategy, cybersecurity, CRM digital marketing, product management, and full-stack engineering, a situation that impacted on our socio-economic well-being as a nation,” Odunfa said.
She therefore proffered three key solutions that would help to close the existing IT skills gap in Nigeria and Africa to include: Intentional development of digital skills at all levels; Collaboration with the diaspora on IT skills development; and Strategic development of local talent.
While facilitating the dialog session, the Managing Director, HC Bonum and a non-Executive Director of Digital Jewels, Lanre Onasanya, further emphasised the need to turn the challenges posed by COVID-19, into solutions that would become blessing to Nigeria and other African countries. “The brain drain we experience harshly today should actually be seen as an opportunity in disguise for the export of competent human capital,” Onasanya said.
