PHOTO[FAMILY.CO.KE]
Family Bank, through the Family Group Foundation, has set aside Sh 5 million to provide ICT skills to 100 youth across the country in a bid to transform talents into employable skills and provide wealth creation opportunities.
The five-month-long training program which will be done in partnership with Ada Labs Africa seeks to provide skills development in among others, animation, software development, artificial intelligence, and data science.
“We believe that through this partnership with Ada Labs, we can build a cadre of tech-enabled youth that will be equipped for the next generation of workers that will be anchored upon tech-driven economies. Our focus is to fill the skills and employment gaps in different sectors, offer capacity-building platforms to equip our youth in various skills as we grow wealth creation opportunities and build sustainable communities through strategic partnerships, under our Shared Value Initiatives,” Family Bank Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Mbithi said.
The training which will be implemented through a 3-4 month practical boot camp will incorporate animation-related programs, ArtificialIntelligence programs, software development programs among others.
“Our mission is to catalyze the technology revolution in Africa. We must build capacity in key skills that will add value to the digital economy and position Africa as the next sought-after hub for technology in the world. To achieve this vision, we need industry partners whose vision is aligned with ours,” Ada Labs CEO, John Kamara added.
The Animation training, which will kick off the training, will be managed by mentors from across the world including Dean Lyon – Director at Mana Animation, Jack Giarraputo – Formerly of Happy Madison Productions, and Kevin Sharpley – CEO of Kijik Multimedia Inc.
The mentors will work closely with the students with teaching, guiding and offering hands-on experience, as the students take on an elating learning journey.