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Trained by
Google. (Reuters/Peter Power)
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About twenty people of all ages gathered earlier
this month in a chilly auditorium at the University of the Witwatersrand in
Johannesburg for Digital 101. The course is aimed at youth, but people of all
ages have shown up for a free crash course in web design, search engine
optimization, social media and digital marketing.
Last month, Google announced that it would train one million young people
over the next year, giving them digital skills to participate in the global
economy. The classes have begun, with sessions in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria
and Tanzania. They’ve also launched an online training platform called DigifyAfrica.
Today’s class is called Digify Bytes, a one-day
course in digital basics, run in partnership with non-governmental organization Livity Africa. There is
also a more intense three-month course that promises to end in a job for the
participants. So far, it has delivered 100%, according to Google.
The class begins with the very basics of digital:
what is the internet. As they make their way through the foundations of social
media and mobile communication, it becomes clear that the social impact of the
internet in Africa is something the participants are still coming to grips
with. Over and over, the conversation returns to jobs. In South Africa, where
about half of young people are unemployed, it’s an issue that occupies the
public discourse.
“The digital revolution creates it’s own jobs,”
says Enoch Sithole, a media specialist who went back to school. “I don’t think
we should hold on to old ways of doing things to protect outdated jobs.”
Africa brings to the digital revolution the
continent’s growing youth population—both as consumers and developers. The
continent’s development challenges have given rise to innovations that create
leapfrog technologies. Mobile money transactions and solar-powered
backpacks are just some of the examples. Google and other tech
companies establishing a footprint on the continent are cultivating a presence
among what will be the world’s largest population in the next few decades.
While the youth population has and will continue to bulge, the number of jobs lags behind. In Nigeria, 13.6% of youth aged 15 to 24 were unemployed in 2014, while in Kenya it was 17.4%. In South Africa, which keeps better statistics than most other sub-Saharan African countries, it is a jolting 52.6% and worsening. Digital industries, like financial technology, could create new opportunities for employment. Preparing young people for these sectors is key, but it will take more than that.
Of course, it’s not quite as straightforward as
digital skills guaranteeing jobs. Looking at global trends, digital development
has also spelled the end of many low-skilled jobs, some of the participants
said. And even if they had the necessary skills, the digital environment moves
so quickly that young job seekers may struggle to keep up and find their newly
earned qualifications soon outdated.
While the students, like so many Africans, are cautiously optimistic of the digital revolution that has slowly made its way across Africa, they are all painfully aware of the lack of internet access across the continent. During class discussion, the South Africans are certain they enjoy the most reliable infrastructure, but are shocked to hear that Kenya’s cheaper data costs have meant more people are online.
“The digital world has created a dichotomy,” said
Kazeem Dawodu, a visiting mathematics fellow from Nigeria also attending the
class. “Those who have access are high class and those who don’t have are low
class.”
“If
African people are able to access information, they’re able to be aware of the
world, aware of what’s going on, even politically, socioeconomically,” said
Liseli Mngoma, a postgraduate media studies student at Wits. “Information
changes how you live your life.”
“Unemployed youth, they’re the ones who give you
the reality of what digital can actually do,” said the course instructor Nomacalia
Gapare. The 24-year-old is herself a graduate of the longer Digify course, and
has started her own business. She recalls being in sessions where participants
had never seen a laptop. And despite the ubiquity of mobile, many don’t have an
email address.
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| Job seekers at a Digify Bytes training session in Lagos Image source: Google Africa Blog |
While digital skills are sure to be an advantage to many young Africans—one million if Google have their way—Africa’s developmental issues hamper digital progress. Still, it doesn’t need to be one or the other. It could be simultaneous, if stakeholders other than Google got involved.
Originally published in Quartz Africa
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