Digify Africa Celebrates ten years of impact and innovation

Digify Africa recently celebrated its tenth anniversary in a panel discussion hosted by Social Entrepreneur Hlubi Mboya with Digify Africa Founder and CEO Gavin Weale, Digify Africa COO Qhakaza Mohare, and Writer and Digify Africa Alumni Rofhiwa Maneta.

The purpose of the celebration and panel discussion was to reflect on Digify Africa’s milestones over the past ten years and share invaluable insights on Africa’s current digital skills landscape.

Founded in 2011, Digify Africa is a youth-led organisation that delivers impact-driven digital skills training to young people across Africa. The organisation offers various free training programmes that speak to different training needs. Digify PRO, an award-winning digital skills bootcamp that allows participants to acquire demand-driven digital marketing skills and enter high-value careers paths in the digital marketing industry. Boost with Facebook supports SMEs through free training workshops that offer practical skills to utilise social media tools like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp Business for business growth. Ilizwe Lam, an online safety programme delivered in high schools across South Africa and promotes safe internet use amongst teens, helping them navigate their online environment better.

Digify Africa has trained more than 100 000 young people and has built a strong footprint across the continent with its programmes running in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

“The last ten years have gone by so fast, and so much has happened, but these celebrations have allowed us to pause for a second and reflect: particularly on the young people we have worked with and the amazing things they have gone on to achieve. There’s so much work to still do, however, on addressing the digital divide in Africa, so this occasion also marks the start of the next ten years or more: we are determined to keep pushing and do even more in the next decade.” says Gavin Weale, Founder and CEO.

Over the past ten years the organisation has sought to empower Africa’s youth with the tools they need to take advantage of the opportunities of the digital world, create sustainable livelihoods, and thrive in today’s digital economy.

‘As an organisation committed to uplifting young people, we believe that digital skills can be a crucial driver of job creation. Impact-driven training initiatives like ours play a critical role in promoting digital inclusion across all communities, adds Digify Africa COO, Qhakaza Mohare.

With a variety of training programs catering to individuals and entrepreneurs, Digify Africa recently launched its first-ever WhatApp Learning bot, Naledi with the support of Facebook. This innovative learning platform will enable young people across Africa to access quality digital skills content. WhatsApp Learning offers a unique learning experience and a cost-effective learning alternative for young people with limited access to connectivity and devices.

As Digify Africa celebrates ten years of Impact and Innovation, there are quite a few milestones to reflect on; the organisation currently has three free training programmes Digify PRO, Boost with Facebook, and Ilizwe Lam. In 2021 they released a series of WhatsApp Learning Bots that will see them drive wider impact to the  communities that need them the most.

For more information on how you can take advantage of their free learning opportunities, you can visit the Digify Africa Website today.

You can watch the full conversation here