Brian Munene, a fourth-year software engineering student from Murang’a University of Technology, is a beneficiary of the Dskill program courtesy of the German government and the East African Community Secretariat.
The initiative, is part of the broader Digital Skills for Innovative East African Industry (dskills@EA) project, aiming at addressing the digital skills gap in East Africa. The program empowers young people and university staff with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in the evolving digital landscape.
Munene’s motivation to apply for the program stemmed from a desire to upskill his knowledge in technology, particularly in data science and software engineering.
“I applied randomly and didn’t think I would qualify, but luckily I got In,” he said.
The training took place at the Kenya School of TVET offering a short-term digital skills program. Participants were taken through a short course on data analytics, visualization, and narrative generation.
Munene notes that the sessions significantly impacted his personal development by providing hands-on experience and exposure to the industry’s best practices.
Networking with other like-minded individuals enabled him to gain new insights and ideas that were crucial in completing a personal project he had been working on.
“This 10-day training has given me a different perspective on the market and exposed me to various tools and practices in software engineering,” Brian shared.
26-year-old Laurin Mungai a graduate of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology is another beneficiary of the program. Mungai attained a bachelor’s degree in Mechatronics Engineering but later ventured into entrepreneurship in the chili value addition business.
“I heard about the Dskills initiative from a family member who sent me a link,” she explains.
Her decision to apply was driven by her desire to upskill herself and her business, particularly in data collection and analysis, which she had not previously put to good use.
“This training has taught me how to collect, clean, analyze, and visualize data to draw meaningful narratives from it,” she said.
The program has been relevant to her mechatronics background, particularly in programming and machine learning, which boosted her confidence in applying for jobs related to data analytics.
Dskill program, received over 2,000 applications from across East Africa, including Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Each country selected 12 participants except Kenya, which had 18 participants in the program.
While speaking at the graduation ceremony Christin Schulz Kaunga, Head of Program at the Digital Transformation Center (GIZ), emphasized the importance of new partnership strategies to expand the program’s reach and deepen its impact.
“We are continuously seeking opportunities to close the digital skills gap in the community,” Ms. Schulz said.
Kaunga further congratulated the graduates underscoring the broader goal of creating a digitized workforce capable of propelling East Africa forward
“Congratulations to the graduates. You have shown resilience and dedication to your personal and professional growth. The skills you have acquired over the past 10 days are tools that will open doors to new opportunities and empower you to contribute meaningfully to your communities and beyond, she added.”
Emmanuel Kweyu, the Deputy Director at the @iLabAfrica Center, also emphasized the importance of leveraging technology to address development challenges.
“The training aims to build high technical skills for the job market,” Kweyu noted.
The ceremony concluded with the awarding of certificates to the graduates, marking the culmination of an intensive and impactful training experience.
Apart from offering Digital skills the two other main components of the project include scholarships for a two-year applied master’s program in Embedded and Mobile Systems at the Center of Excellence in Arusha and entrepreneurship and innovation training for 210 young people.
The program has already supported 148 students across the region with full scholarships. Additionally,35 university staff members across the region, including those from the University of Nairobi, KCA, and PAC University in Kenya, participated in a five-day training on e-learning and curriculum development.
Other implementing partners include GIZ, the Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), WINS Global Black in Tech, and Strathmore University.
