[AfrICANN-discuss] The state of IT skills in Africa

[Chris Mulola]

Hey AR,

This is interesting article, thank you so much... and it is one more good
reason that I have to make the DOTS program work, we did a brief
introduction during EA-IGF that took place in Kigali August 17-18, 2011 and
we are launching a serious pilot project very soon. Whichever way the
situation is we need to increase our IT skills reserve.

Stay safe,

Chris

2011/8/30 Anne-Rachel Inné <annerachel at gmail.com>

> The state of IT skills in Africa
>
> http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2011/08/the-state-of-it-skills-in-africa/
>
> The IDG Connect recently did a study on the state of IT Skills worldwide,
> and a number of interesting facts have come to light regarding Africa. The
> study was based on the survey of 3169 IT professionals from 105 countries.
> <http://www.itnewsafrica.com/2011/08/the-state-of-it-skills-in-africa/537048_93574483/>
>
> If the IT skills shortage is as much of a problem as many people believe,
> it will have a real impact on the future global economy (image: stock.xchng)
>
> “The striking thing about these results is that most people surveyed do not
> appear to believe there is an IT skills shortage. Although across the globe
> the majority of those who took part stated that senior technical skills were
> most lacking from the market place,” said Kathryn Cave, Editor at IDG
> Connect International.
>
> To the question of how many IT vacancies are open in Africa, 40% of the
> professionals believed that there is a medium volume of vacancies available.
> This is compared to about 15% who believed there is a high volume of
> vacancies open, while 30% said that there very few vacancies available.
>
> Through the study it was revealed that the majority of the participants
> felt that senior technical skills were missing from the market. A high
> percentage (almost 80%) said Africa needs more senior personnel, while just
> over 30% suggested a need for business or entry level staff.
>
> The majority of people surveyed across all the regions also believed the
> economy was a big reason for any IT employment problems. While North America
> ranked the highest in blaming the economy (over 80%), only 70% of the
> African felt that the economy was to blame. Just over 20% said the African
> economy didn’t play a role.
>
> But Africa and South America ranked the highest when it can to IT training,
> with about 65% of the people believing that poor IT training as a major
> problem in terms of IT employment. Although a high number suggested poor
> training, the general feeling about the industry’s growth was on the
> increase.
>
> Of those surveyed, a vast majority felt that the lack of interest in IT
> careers was not an issue in Africa. Just fewer than 30% said that it was
> indeed a problem, while about 5% had no opinion on the matter.
>
> Although the majority of people surveyed stated that the lack of interest
> in IT careers was not an issue, 68.75% of Africans, 62.96% of South
> Americans and 58.15% of Asians believed the best IT talent moves abroad,
> compared to 14.15% of North Americans surveyed. “Compensations and benefits
> do not reflect the hardship in the country causing flight of skills to other
> countries,” commented a business manager from Nigeria.
>
> When asked what they thought were the reasons for any IT employment
> problems in their area, Africa once again ranked the highest, with 71%
> saying entry level workers have a different work ethic to older employees.
>
> Although the study revealed some interesting trends and movements, Cave
> added that it only provides a small snap-shot of the reality. “No research
> is ever fully representative and the majority of those who took part in this
> survey held senior IT roles, and had been in their jobs for over two years.
> In addition to this more than half across all regions did not have plans to
> change job any time soon. This statistic was highest in North America where
> an overwhelming 78.68% intended to stay put.”
>
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-- 
Best regards,

Chris Mulola


Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed
until it is faced. *(James Baldwin)*
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