Cape Town - The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) has scored an impressive cash injection to boost technology skills among young South Africans.
Its CapaCiTi hub announced on Friday that it has unlocked R250m that will be used to train 3 000 people over three years in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth.
"This incredibly impactful expansion has been enabled through the generous support from South African corporate businesses, in particular R100m from BCX, and also R75m from the National Treasury Jobs Fund," the organisation said in a statement.
CiTi CEO Ian Merrington recently told Fin24 that the priority of the organisation was training and the acceleration of technology innovation.
"Our environment is considerably more conducive of tech innovation than the traditional corporate workplace which enables us to assist business to solve problems through both creative and innovative execution," he said.
Education focus
READ: Women, diversity 'key' to SA's tech industry
CapaCiTi argues that its ability to train workers in a real-world environment with core technology skills contribute to the success of its programmes.
"A smart pairing of national and corporate funding presents South African companies with the opportunity to leverage 40% more value for their training expenditure, and access to a talent pipeline that directly meets their needs.
"And an innovative shift in the CapaCiTi model towards student loan and work-back agreements now guarantees the sustainability and scalability of the project, and candidate accountability."
CapaCiTi has hubs focused on finance, education, business analytics, and travel designed to boost employment in these sectors through training and mentoring programmes. It boasts a 96% success rate in skills development.
It is located in the Khayelitsha and Woodstock suburbs of Cape Town.
A recruitment campaign will be launched next week to search for young people ideally suited to join its programmes in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
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