First Virtual Skills Lab Opens in Ethiopia

May 23 , 2020

Microsoft 4Africa, in partnership with Gebeya Inc. and the Technology & Innovation Institute Ethiopia (TechIn), is set to launch its first virtual SkillsLab in Ethiopia. Microsoft’s 4Africa SkillsLab, a virtual programme, will provide students with apprenticeship-based training to 200 African software engineers over the course of up to six months. The programme, a 30-hour-a-week training course, will focus on the digital skills, coding capabilities and workplace readiness of young university graduates. The students will have priority access to jobs through the Microsoft Partner Network after graduating and earning a Microsoft certification. The partnership between Gebeya Inc., a Pan-African education tech and online talent marketplace company headquartered in Addis Abeba, and TechIn, which works in the research and development of technology, is aimed at filling the skills gap in the country. In seven years, the 4Afrika initiative has taught 2,073 graduates from 19 SkillsLabs across the continent, with an 85pc employment rate achieved within three months of graduating.