Create sustainable jobs in the digital sector and building a bridge to the European market
The German start-up Zatec serves international clients on software development projects. They took a leap in 2021 and started their first training programme in Rwanda. Now, they established a new presence in the country to bridge the Rwandan and European markets. As a member company of the Digital Skills Accelerator Africa e. V. (DSAA), Zatec received support by Invest for Jobs.
In January 2021, DSAA member company Zatec began “an adventure they didn’t know what to expect from”, as they stated on their LinkedIn channel. As part of a DSAA training programme, Zatec onboarded a team of ten young Rwandan IT and coding talents. Over a period of three months, the group was trained virtually in web-based software development. After the course, the top trainees were offered a paid internship at the company or with its customers to get additional on-the-job training preparing them to enter the international job market for software developers.
Of the first cohort, all ten trainees are now in permanent jobs or are studying. Zatec hired four of them directly at the end of their internships. Impressed by the level of motivation and trainees’ eagerness to learn, Zatec decided to run more cohorts. Today, less than 12 months after the kick-off of their first cohort in Rwanda, Zatec has trained around 30 young talents and 93 % subsequently got into employment.
Convinced by the potential of the talent pool and Rwanda’s vibrant ecosystem, Zatec decided to establish a new branch in the capital city Kigali, with one of their graduates, Moise Ntwari, as Managing Director. Zatec-Rwanda Limited is their second branch in Africa after Pretoria, South Africa, and aims at expanding their business in the East African region.
The DSAA training programme by member company Zatec is supported by the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition". DSAA’s current and future projects are geared towards making lasting improvements in the employment situation for talented young profiles and create business opportunities in Africa.