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If Africa is to continue on a path of positive economic growth, the continent will have to capitalise on the potential of its youth, as more than half  of Africa’s inhabitants will be less than 24 years by 2025 according to UN’s report on The Demography of Population Ageing.

 

For this to happen, African governments, it stated,  required forward-looking partnerships with the private sector-focused educational initiatives that provide cost-effective ways of providing the public with access to skills that will improve their chances of employability and make them much more productive within the workplace.

 

In the wake of a series of innovative  projects aimed at promoting skills development on the continent and in alignment with SAP’s Skills for Africa programme, SAP Africa is launching the SAP Smart Academy.

 

The Academy is situated at SAP centres located in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, which enables a large number of skilled young people to boost their labour market relevance through a specialised SAP technology skills training.

 

A product of SAP Education Africa, the SAP Smart Academy courses have been designed to help students learn how to effectively leverage the power of SAP technology solutions and drive greater proficiency within a variety of organisations and industries.

According to the Chief Executive Officer, SAP Africa, Pfungwa Serima: "Only individuals (students) that are actively enrolled at a tertiary academic institution may take part in the Smart Academy training as the offering has been tailor made to meet their levels of affordability. For this reason, no SAP customers are eligible to participate."

 

In partnership with various local West-African Partners, the SAP Smart Academy utilises world-class SAP infrastructure and facilitators and teaches end-users through live as well as on-line courses. All successful participants are given  globally-recognised certification.

 

“For the youth of Nigeria, the benefits of this initiative lie in the fact that individuals who aspire to advance their careers can gain the skills to compete in the vibrant SAP market," Serima said.

 

The SAP Smart Academy’s 20-day long courses cover a range of popular SAP solutions ranging from SAP Financial Accounting and SAP Human Capital Management, to SAP Server Implementation and Operation or SAP ABAP Workbench.

 

“Graduates of the SAP Smart Academy will become certified associate-level functional consultants who will be in a position to secure the competitive edge they require in applying for positions within SAP’s vast ecosystem,” Serima said.

 

The SAP Skills for Africa programme continues to deliver on its promise to upskill Africa’s talented youths. With about 10 million young African youths arriving on the labour market annually, obtaining additional skills that would render them more marketable within their environment is no longer negotiable, but necessity, Serima said.