Rockefeller Foundation To Pump $97m Into African Digital Jobs

Africans at a cybercaf’e The Rockefeller Foundation has announced that it will pledge $97 million to create jobs in the digital field in Africa as part of its ongoing inititative to create jobs for young.

Africans in the rapidly growing information and communications technology (ICT) enabled sectors in the continent.

President of the Rockefeller Foundation Judith Rodin made the disclosure recently at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa.

There is no better place to announce the official launch of the Rockefeller  Foundation’s Digital Jobs Africa initiative, a $97 million investment,” Rodin said.

Among other things, the funds would be channeled towards training high-potential but disadvantaged, unemployed youths and getting them jobs in digital fields such as service center support, online research and Web design.

The initiative plans to reach out to one million youths over the next seven  years and would focus on six African countries-Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa,  Kenya, Egypt and Morocco – all of which have dynamic and growing services sectors and offer the potential for continued ICT development.

The Foundation aims to partner and collaborate with private sector companies, development organisations and government agencies to identify

opportunities for digital jobs. “We will leverage the rising demand from African-based organisations,

governments moving to e-government using digital tools, and ·multinational corporations, to create sustainable employment opportunities, which is a win- win for all, cutting costs in many cases by 40%, while increasing incomes for workers by 40% to 200%,” Rodin said in a statement.