IT talent as the cornerstone of the image processing sector
The company Schnell Media provides digital imaging services to online retailers, publishers, photo studios and many other clients in the fashion, food, automotive and other industries. In addition to the German headquarters, Schnellmedia has decided to establish a subsidiary in Rwanda in 2021 to provide imaging services for the international market.
Invest for Jobs supports Schnell Media in training qualified personnel for its Rwandan branch and for the ICT sector in general. To systematically address skills gaps in the long term and support Schnell Media's market entry in Rwanda, Invest for Jobs has also facilitated a strategic partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) as part of the project.
Together with RDB, which runs an ICT innovation centre in Kigali to train job seekers and promote IT start-ups, Schnell Media developed a curriculum to train image editors. Initially, 200 young people will be trained in Kigali. Depending on the previous knowledge of the trainees, the training lasts 3-4 months. Afterwards, the tested course programme will be integrated into the ICT Innovation Centre's teaching offer so that it can be replicated to promote more young talent for future employment in the field of digital image editing. In addition to industry-specific skills such as retouching, masking, cropping, vectorising and the use of relevant software, the trainees are taught further practical IT and language skills that are essential for their employability in the labour market.
Schnell Media plans to employ about 100 of the first 200 graduates. Invest for Jobs and RDB also support the placement of the remaining graduates in suitable jobs at other companies.
For Rwanda's young ICT sector, the programme offers the chance to tap into a promising niche market. The goal is for more interested investors from the image processing sector to set their sights on Rwanda to make use of the newly available talent in the country.