African Development Bank grants US$150,000 to Rwanda Coding Academy
The academy selects high-performing students and trains them in advanced software programming and cybersecurity skills.
JOHANNESBURG, November 5 (ANA) – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has on Thursday signed a grant agreement with the Ministry of ICT and Innovation to support the Rwanda Coding Academy.
The academy selects high-performing students and trains them in advanced software programming and cybersecurity skills to facilitate their emergence as world-class programmers.
In a statement on Thursday, the AfDB said the grant funding of US$150,000, from the Rockefeller Trust Fund administered by the bank, will be directed at the acquisition of computers and furniture. The aim is to create an ultramodern innovation centre of excellence offering internet connectivity, teacher training and organisation of job career orientation events.
Rwandan Minister for ICT and Innovation Paula Ingabire welcomed the partnership with the AfDB.
“The Rwanda Coding Academy is part of our broader vision to grow a local pool of highly talented pan-African workforce in science, technology and innovation,” she said.
The grant will also be used to finance on-job training for teachers and equipping the school with the tools to facilitate the learning experience of students.
“This collaboration between the bank and the Government of Rwanda aims to demonstrate that empowering African youth with demand-driven skills and providing them with opportunities to be part of the ICT ecosystem as early as possible will enable them to claim their space in the digital sector and be equal drivers of innovative ideas that are shaping the present and the future of Africa and the globe,” said Nnenna Nwabufo, the acting director-general for the AfDB’s eastern region.
“This proof-of-concept has profound implications on how the education sector can adapt an effective response to the persistent skills mismatches in the labour market, not only in Rwandan but in Africa at large.”
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
