"SAP Young Professionals Program" –
Digital Impulses for Africa

Digital products and services can contribute to drive Africa's economic and social development and improve the lives of many people, especially youth.

Youth unemployment is high in many countries on the African continent. Although Africa has the youngest population in the world, there is a lack of qualified job entrants in the digital and technology sector. Despite having a university degree, many young people lack the necessary practical skills. Companies cannot fill open entry-level positions because applicants lack relevant skills such as soft and digital skills and certifications that are in short supply. Hence, if more young people are trained and educated in digital technologies, new sustainable jobs will be created, and economic growth and prosperity will be secured.

The "SAP Young Professionals Program" makes an important contribution to meeting the need for specialists, counteracting the growing youth unemployment and creating impulses for the economy. The new professionals can drive the introduction of digital technologies in numerous companies and institutions and thus create more jobs. With the support of Invest for Jobs, the German technology company SAP expanded its programme to ten African countries.

The cooperation with SAP aimed to create jobs in the IT sector. The participating countries Algeria, Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia have a great potential for jobs and growth in the digital sector – but there is a lack of trained professionals to support companies and institutions in the implementation and use of software.

Therefore, the project trained and certified job-seeking university graduates in digital skills in a three-month training programme. The programme included modules on digital topics such as cloud, big data, business analytics and soft skill enablement as well as on communication, presentation and negotiation techniques to prepare the talents optimally for their future careers in the digital sector. Due to the well-founded and wide-ranging training concept, the programme prepared the participants for a variety of positions in the private sector/ in the "SAP Ecosystem".

After successful completion, the graduates are certified SAP Associate Consultants and can be hired directly by companies. As part of the programme, all participants received a job offer from an SAP partner or customer company. The aim was to place at least three out of four programme graduates in employment in the local IT sector.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the trainings held since 2020 have been conducted virtually. Nevertheless, the pandemic also brings opportunities, as the need for digitally trained employees increased because of digital adaptations in many companies.

By the end of the project, 630 participants (including 255 women) had been trained. With a successful completion rate of 98.57 per cent of participants, 537 graduates were successfully placed in employment.

The cooperation with SAP is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH within the framework of the Special Initiative "Decent Work for a Just Transition" and develoPPP. develoPPP is a funding programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project with SAP was initiated as part of the Strategic Partnership Technology in Africa, which links companies with partners in development cooperation.