The shortage of IT professionals is stalling digital transformation. Companies must take new paths and look at international labour markets to remain competitive. In Africa, more than 2 million bright ICT students graduate from university every year but can hardly find a job. A promising cooperation model is now bridging European companies with African tech talent.

In the age of remote and new work, distance is no longer a barrier. It no longer matters whether the employees work 50 or 5000 km away. Many companies have outsourced activities to Asia to remain cost-efficient and meet their demand for digital experts. However, skilled workers are also becoming increasingly limited there, and wage and salary costs are rising simultaneously. Africa, on the other hand, still offers a significant and primarily undiscovered potential of digital talent.

Africa has the world’s youngest population (40% are younger than 15), and around 20 million students graduate from university every year. 11% of these graduates have studied ICT (Information and Communications Technology). However, only a few find a job in the formal sector. Creating sustainable jobs in Africa and solving the skills shortage can be achieved by cooperating with African digital talent.

Martin Hecker, an ex-senior partner at Boston Consulting Group, has developed a model with Cologne-based AmaliTech that removes all entry barriers and risks for companies and makes exploring the African labour market easy. AmaliTech trains young graduates free of charge in the digital field and brings them to an internationally competitive level. Soft skills training prepares them for successful collaboration with European companies. Upon completing the training, they are offered a job at one of the AmaliTech offices in Ghana or Rwanda, where they can closely collaborate with international clients. 

The model allows companies to build scalable tech teams in Africa at competitive rates and to work with them on a long-term basis. Finally, the teams built can be transferred to a separate legal entity in Africa if desired. Clients appreciate that their teams in Africa work in almost the same time zone, and communication runs very easily as English is the official language in Ghana and Rwanda. Certifications like ISO27001, ISO9001 and TISAX prove quality management and high cyber security standards.

It is an innovative and special business model that is social and self-sustaining. All surpluses generated are reinvested in training the next generation of technology leaders and local social projects. By working together, companies improve their competitiveness and, at the same time, invest in a social project that creates career prospects in Africa.

Are you ready to build scalable, international tech teams for your company? Together, let’s drive forward your digital agenda while simultaneously creating sustainable job opportunities for the youth in Ghana and Rwanda!

 

About AmaliTech:

The social business AmaliTech offers young digital talent in sub-Saharan Africa a professional career path in the information and communication technology sector. The young talent has the opportunity to participate in the free, three-to-nine-month training programme, with subsequent career prospects at the AmaliTech Service Centre. The high-quality digital services provided here are offered in Europe, and the surpluses are directly reinvested in further training and social projects in Africa. This cycle helps to drive the economy in Africa, sustainably consolidate the industry and increase growth potential.

AmaliTech is committed to driving inclusion and diversity in the tech industry and leading by example. A focus is placed on enabling women, in particular, to access the digital sector and support them in their career paths.

AmaliTech is supported through the Digital Skills Accelerator Africa (DSAA) e.V. by the Special Initiative “Decent Work for a Just Transition” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Under the Invest for Jobs brand, the Special Initiative aims to team up with companies to create good jobs and training opportunities as well as to improve working conditions in currently eight partner countries in Africa. The Special Initiative is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, among others.

Through the UN’s Decent Jobs for Youth Initiative, AmaliTech has committed to train over 3,000 individuals and create more than 1,000 direct jobs in Ghana and Rwanda by 2025.

 

Kim Metzger

Tel. +49 (0)221 – 500 545 26
Mail: kim.metzger@amalitech.org
Vogelsanger Straße 321a
50827 Köln
www.amalitech.org

In the picture:

The two software developers, Blaise Niyonkuru and Tharcissie Idufashe (from left to right), at the AmaliTech Service Centre in Kigali, Rwanda, during a conversation with a colleague in the AmaliTech office in Germany.

 

Photo Credit: AmaliTech

 

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