Over the past two years, the SAP Skills for Africa program has opened up chapters in Kenya, Morocco, and now South Africa. As the company aims to open up more chapters across the continent in years to come, they have are also striving to build on the momentum that the program has already yielded. To that end, SAP Africa has partnered with the Maharishi Institute, as part of the South African Skills for Africa chapter.

Added to this, SAP has announced a co-sponsored SAP Dual Study Program, as part of the SAP Skills for Africa offering. In collaboration with universities across the continent, the SAP Dual Study program allows university students to obtain SAP functional or technical certification during their final two years of studying towards a Bachelor’s degree.

SAP believes that this  will allow them to leave their tertiary institute with both academic and industry-relevant qualifications. Once graduated, support is provided to students to find placement in the SAP ecosystem. As a result, yesterday's development sees bursaries going to 20 Maharishi students in 2015 and an additional 20 students will also receive bursaries next year.

Driving forward

“We are proud to once again be partnering with SAP Africa to drive forward the skills and job creation agenda in South Africa. The SAP Skills for Africa programme now enriched by the SAP Dual Study program represents the next era in training relevant ICT skills to proactively address current and future skills requirements in this country,” said Dr Taddy Blecher, CEO of the Maharishi Institute.

“With poor economic growth and a scarcity of ICT and business skills, the creation of sustainable jobs in South Africa is top of mind for many. SAP Africa recognises that skills development with a view to concrete job creation is one of the best ways to deal not only with skills shortages facing the technology industry, but also help address South Africa’s chronic youth unemployment issue,” concluded Pfungwa Serima, executive chairman of SAP Africa.