AfDB, Nigeria, Microsoft launch youths’ e-learning platform

The African Development Bank, the Nigerian government and Microsoft have launched an initiative, called ‘Digital Nigeria eLearning Platform’, to empower the country’s youths with marketable digital skills.

The AfDB disclosed this in a statement on Thursday entitled ‘Nigeria: African Development Bank partners with government and Microsoft to launch digital Nigeria eLearning platform’.

According to the statement, the platform offers courses in web development, content creation, and data science, among others.

AfDB said, “The platform also uses gamification techniques to teach problem solving, collaboration, creative thinking and basic coding.

“The platform will be continually updated with new courses and leverage partnerships to provide training certifications.

“Within 24 hours of launch, the platform recorded over 16,000 user registrations.”

It said nearly 6,000 of registrants had completed at least one training course and earned a certificate.

The AfDB said the content would be accessible via a web site and a mobile app.

It added that the platform would leverage its coding for employment initiative, and build linkages between the public and private sectors to create nine million jobs in Africa’s digital economy in the next 10 years.

The Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, at the launch, said, “We are championing a paradigm shift that lays emphasis on skills…This is a growing trend across the globe.

“The digital literacy and skills pillar recognises the fact that citizens are the greatest assets in any economy, including the digital economy. It will support the development of a large pool of digitally literate and digitally skilled citizens.”

The Senior Director for AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department, Ebrima Faal, said the demand for digital services and fourth industrial revolution technologies across all sectors had increased.