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Cape Town - IT skills in South Africa are set for a boost with the graduation of the first batch of coding students from WeThinkCode_.
The institution on Wednesday night revealed 120 students who have been trained as coders and placed in jobs as part of its programme to upskill and diversify the local tech industry.
“The lack of diversity in the tech industry is a real challenge in South Africa but also in the Silicon Valley and across the world. WeThinkCode_ contributes to diversity in the industry by sourcing and developing talent from very diverse backgrounds,” Camille Agon, WeThinkCode_ director told Fin24.
The organisation received over 30 000 applications when it opened doors to students in October 2015 and only 300 qualified to complete boot-camp sessions.
“We aim to equip students with the skills to become world class digital problem solvers. And so tonight, we are pleased to reveal the most talented coders who partook in an intense selection process and have succeeded to become the first to experience our two-year peer-to-peer digital training,” said Agon at the graduation event.
Social transformation
READ: Cape Town accelerator targets social transformation
South Africa struggles with the lack of diversity in the ICT industry.
According to advocacy group Women in Tech, women make up 23% of local tech workers, occupying 56 000 out of 236 000 ICT roles.
Local incubator Bandwidth Barn has a mandate to promote disadvantaged groups as part of its tech social transformation agenda.
“The Bandwidth Barn is Africa’s oldest accelerator - we’ve been here for 16 years - and primarily, we have a transformative mandate,” Ian Merrington, chief executive of the Cape Innovative and Technology Initiative (CiTi) recently told Fin24.
“We believe that diversity drives innovation and are convinced that South Africa's current challenges will be solved by the people who live them every day,” said Agon.
Training at peer-to-peer institution is free for students and it is supported by 26 corporations as well as R13m in funding.
Workonline Communications has committed to providing high speed internet access to facilitate the functioning of the institution.
“We believe that it is very important for corporates to give back to the communities in which they operate. We are only as successful as the connectivity of a region allows us to be, or the economy in which we operate, therefore it is in our interest to invest in companies, start-ups and individuals that contribute to the development of the industry as a whole,” said Edward Lawrence, director of Business Development at Workonline Communications.
Agnon said the organisation was looking to expand its Johannesburg campus.
“For now, we are looking to expand our Johannesburg campus to attract more candidates and are looking at building students accommodations in the CBD to accommodate students from other parts of the country.”
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