New digital technologies are transforming the workplace. Job seekers with digital skills generally have greater success in finding employment. By 2025,149 million new digital employment will be available worldwide, and technology is generating those chances.
On the first of June, 2023, we will be hosting a rigorous job preparedness information session that will be looking at raising awareness about different opportunities that are available to unemployed youth in the digital economy. This session will be live-streamed on our Facebook page. Facebook is a zero-rated app. This enables us to connect with more young people who may struggle to connect due to a lack of data.
It is essential to have digital skills for career success and to engage in a digital society fully. According to a 2019 report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), over 200 million employment in sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, necessitating the need for around 600 million training opportunities.
For the past ten years, we have provided digital skills education to young people in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. Despite being called “digital natives,” most young people still lack the necessary digital skills to fill open positions. This is why our mandate has been to shape the continent’s digital future by upskilling young people with digital skills and preparing them for the future of work. With South Africa’s unemployment rate at 34.9%, which primarily affects young people, there is a strong need to learn new emerging skills that can boost their possibilities to actively participate in booming areas, such as the digital economy.
In 2020 we launched Digify Pro Online, an online version of our award-winning digital marketing boot camp. Digify Pro Online is a tool for education, employment, and empowerment that is helping young people develop their digital literacy and improving their prospects of finding work, launching their own company, or pursuing a freelancing career in Africa.
Every country and region will require more digital infrastructure and expertise as digitalisation spreads. Digital skills, knowledge, and capacities will undoubtedly advance in the fields, industries, and vocations where digitisation promotes employment creation. While this happens, there are many chances to invest in training and skill development. The education, training, and learning sectors must grow to meet these demands.
