AfricaPlan Foundation Selects 20 Graduates for 2022 Hackathon Africa
Emma Okonji
AfricaPlan Foundation has selected 20 graduates for 2022 HackathonAfrica, which kicked off last week in Enugu, Southeast Nigeria.
The HackatonAfrica program, a brainchild of the US-based AfricaPlan Foundation, is an intensive software coding bootcamp for fresh graduates aimed at tackling the steep digital skills deficit in the Southeast region and creating opportunities for the enterprising youth to tap into the burgeoning technology industry.
With Nigeria’s unemployment rate at more than 35 per cent, the AfricanPlan Foundation said the HackathonaAfrica provides one of several unique opportunities that must be explored to creatively tackle the unemployment crisis through an inclusive and strategic digital upskilling program that creates opportunities for the next generation of young Nigerians to play an active part in the digital economy.
The Hackathon attracted massive interest from youths across the region with over 300 applications received, out of which 20 graduates were shortlisted to join the first cohort, which included ten males and ten females, underscoring the Foundation’s strategic commitment to inclusivity and removing biases by granting equal opportunities to both genders.
The fully-funded, residential software coding bootcamp, will last for three months and will encompass intensive hands-on practical training on Fullstack Web Development (MERN) and in the latest and more commonly used software coding programs and databases in tech today.
The founder of the AfricaPlan Foundation, Mr Oni Chukwu, while speaking at the opening ceremony, decried the dearth of digital skills in Africa, which is hampering the ability of the continent to fully tap into the economic opportunities of the technology revolution and its attendant economic empowerment.
He noted that advances in technology, especially in software development have disrupted virtually every industry resulting in a greater disadvantage for any economy without sufficient or commensurate digital skills to meet industry needs. He, therefore, called on policymakers, governments at all levels and concerned individuals to embrace the new reality and put in place deliberate measures that will refocus the energy of the youth and equip them to tap into the technology sector.
