With more than 20 years of experience in software engineering and having built go-to-market solutions across Africa for IBM, Oracle and SAP, Sam Immanuel was well-placed to identify the problem and envisage a solution. And he founded Semicolon, a startup trying to close the gap between what students learn at school and university, and what companies need.
While youth unemployment is a continental, even global, problem, Immanuel chose to focus his solution on his home country of Nigeria. He says that it’s a societal problem and it’s one that governments cannot solve on their own.
His contribution is simple: Train students in skills that will make them more employable. And that is precisely what he created his startup to do. Additionally, some students who have completed Semicolon’s training have used their knowledge to equip others who also want to enter and graduate from the programme.
This contributes to the company’s growth and increases its ability to train more tech entrepreneurs, or ‘techpreneurs’.
But while educating the students, he realised that there was a different gap in the market that his company could also fill. It could create opportunities and advancements for women in tech through programmes, mentorship, career talks and community networks. And so they did.
Empowering women in tech
With the increase in technology development on the continent, the company saw it fit to create something that would both include and encourage women to join the tech space, so the Semicolon Women in Tech (SWiT) programme was born.
Immanuel is adamant that promoting the participation of women in the digital economy is a step in the right direction of achieving equal representation in the sector.
But this is not a problem specific to Africa but one experienced worldwide, highlighting the need for clear strategies to help women advance in the tech industry.
Supply and demand
In a report by Dion Shango, CEO of PwC Africa Central and Southern Africa, the skills gap remains wider in Africa. “Laying a foundation for the continent’s current and future workforce requires a deliberate policy approach, private sector commitment and institutional reforms.
“It is vital for all sectors to invest in building skills, not just for today, but to establish a sustainable pipeline of talent to meet future skills needs,” adds the report
Semicolon’s focus on tech is because of the digital economic revolution Africa is currently experiencing. Immanuel (still CEO of Semicolon) goes on to say that “there is no point in training people and not being able to help them find meaningful jobs.”
The curriculum
But it’s not that simple: Conceptualising and growing a profitable company that would educate students required intense focus. The programmes needed to be centred on adding value to people’s lives and reducing the unemployment rate, Immanuel suggests.
With his background in software engineering and a team of skilled employees, training students and creating a curriculum that included the skills they needed was relatively simple to achieve. “We knew we had to do something meaningful and impactful,” he explains further.
Semicolon trains students to become software engineers and techpreneurs. The curriculum includes design thinking, where students are taught to identify problems, generate ideas and design solutions.
They are equipped with practical skills to turn ideas and designs into products. Students also learn business management, which allows them to see how to monetise solutions or products.
It can be done
Immanuel identifies certain key lessons that he gained on his own entrepreneurship journey. “You can’t do this alone. It always takes longer than it looks like it’s going to take.
“Africa is for builders, and we need to work through issues and figure out what needs to be done. Whether another thing exists, we need to work and collaborate with others.
“Our biggest learning is that there is talent in Africa. And many people are looking for opportunities where they can strive and show people what they are capable of.
“With the right environment, people can flourish. There is a lot of investment reward from investing in that human capital development.”
Africa’s future
Immanuel is convinced of the potential within Africa and wants to harness that by being part of the solution to the unemployment crisis. This has been a challenge across the continent, as evident by high unemployment rates.
“We need to stay true to our mission, and our mission is to enable African digital transformation by building tech-focused talents and businesses. We want to contribute to the economic growth of Nigeria and the continent,” he expresses.
“I recently became a proud Harambean. And there’s something we say in Harambean, which is that the Africa our generation desires can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible. It is ours.
“And in making that declaration, we are working towards giving them the skills that enable them to have access to more opportunities,” he concludes.
Source: Incafrica.com