Four of ten successful DSAA training participants started their internships with German startup Zatec
German startup and DSAA member company Zatec offered a three-month training course to ten young Rwandans seeking employment in information and communications technology (ICT). After completing their course, four of them have now started working for the company.
Rwanda’s ICT sector is growing. While the country’s economy was shrinking in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICT sector grew by 29%. With this growth, new opportunities are on the horizon. To make use of them, young Rwandans however require the right skillset.
To close the skills gap and enable young Rwandans to find employment in the ICT sector, the Digital Skills Accelerator Africa (DSAA) has been working with its member companies to set up training programmes that meet the private sector’s needs. One of the DSAA’s members, German startup Zatec, became interested in the Rwandan market and its local talents. In early 2021, they offered a comprehensive training together with Invest for Jobs for young IT professionals. During the course, participants learned about content including front-end and web-based software development and soft skills like project management and client relations.
At the end of the trainings, top candidates were promised a three-month paid internship with Zatec, where they are now working with clients in Germany and Zatec’s team that is split between Germany and South Africa. While four participants have started their internships, the remaining trainees are now enrolled in further training programmes, further education or work as a self-employed entrepreneur.
All in all, Zatec’s trainees proved to be highly motivated and deeply enthusiastic about the training, which has become a stepping stone towards their professional dreams.
To hear more about where they wish to go from here, listen to their stories in our video: