[kictanet] [Skunkworks] SAP and Kenya ICT Board Partner on Skills Develeopment

Thu Sep 20 18:38:25 EAT 2012

@Barrack,

First, a disclosure that as an involved party my views are likely to be biased 

That said I dont see how either brain drain or strategic mismatch comes in - perhaps you could elaborate.  Otherwise from my understanding is that the big corporates in Africa use big ERP software just like most corporates accross the globe.  SAP, Oracle JD Edwards take up a huge chunk of this market. Closer home, Bidco, Nation, EABL, Safaricom, Kenya Power, Mumias Sugar, etc use either of these ERPs and did you know that they fly in consultants from Europe/US/Asia to do the customization, deployment and maintenance of the same?  These consultants cost a bomb, stay in expensive hotels, work hard 4days a week and party harder around the country over the weekend....

What Paul at ICT Board is trying to do, is to make sure that in the next 6-12mnths, Kamau, Onyango, Wafula, Koech and many other Kenyans will form the larger part of this privileged group of professionals.  They will be certified SAP Professionals and should attract good income, within and across Africa -indeed globally.

I still dont see why this would cause  brain drain or a strategic mismatch.

walu.  

________________________________
 From: Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com>
To: jwalu at yahoo.com 
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>; ke users <ke-internetusers at bdix.net> 
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 5:10 PM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] [Skunkworks] SAP and Kenya ICT Board Partner on Skills Develeopment

Hi Paul,

Whereas i laud this initiative how does it tie in with our overall development goals as a country? how does the Kenyan industry stand to develop other than brain drain? i think we have a mismatch in strategy somewhere in the government ranks, sorry i am thinking in Swahili so i am not able to bring out properly whats on my mind.

Best Regards

On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 4:26 PM, Paul Kukubo <pkukubo at ict.go.ke> wrote:

>Kenyan Government and SAP to expand skill set of local graduates
>Training aims at improving youth employability in the country’s robust ICT sector and is inline with vision 2030
> 
>Nairobi 20th September, 2012…The government of Kenya through the Kenya ICT Board and SAP has today announced a partnership that will see 100 bright but underprivileged studentsundergo training to become certified SAP Software engineers.
>Dubbed “SAP Skills for Africa”, the Programme commits to deliver professional training and certification to Kenyan university graduates. The programme will seek to substantially improve the employability of young, bright university graduatesand equally deliver on the government’s mandate to promote digital inclusion, to forge Kenya as an ICT hub for Africa and drive ICT skills development.   
>
>
>“The SAP partnership is key in equipping our young professionals with high end ICT skills that are on demand in the Kenya and the wider East African Market. This effort provides amuch needed skillset for graduates who would otherwise not have had the privilege to be exposed to this specific set of world class skills", said Kenya ICT Board CEO, Paul Kukubo.
>
>
>The Kenya ICT Board and SAP are in partnership to deliver the latest skills and knowledge to the students. The Kenya ICTBoard will provide classrooms with necessary computer infrastructure and will be charged with the overall management of the programme that will take place at the Multi MediaUniversity, whereas SAP will provide instructors, training material and educational systems.
>Delivery of this programme will include the provision of certified instructors, training material and case studies withSAP‘s largest investment being the waiver of any costs related to the programme for the students; a significant financial investment.
>Modules of study for this period will be focused on best business practices and SAP skills in financial and managerial accounting, sales and distribution, procurement, human capital management, database and technology, system administration and also around business reporting.
>“The SAP Skills for Africa programme aims at ensuring that each and every university graduate is equipped with the skills necessary to enter the job market and not only gain economic stability and prosperity but also to be able to plough back into the ecosystem”, said Pfungwa Serima,CEO Africa, SAP 
>By working proactively with the government bodies and with its customers, SAP has taken the lead to deliver the opportunity for students to receive additional practical skills, business and system knowledge that will better equip them for today’s jobmarket, thereby increasing their possibilities of employment.
>The programme builds upon the knowledge students gained in their undergraduate studies and provides them with hands-on experience in working with the world’s leading business software applications company. SAP training will delivervaluable skills on software use, best business practices and processes that will greatly benefit the trainees and theorganizations where they work in future.  
>“This initiative perfectly fits into the MMU agenda of producing graduates who are immediately ready to be productive in the industry upon graduation, over the years inadequate skilling of our graduates has been a chief cause of high employment costs, causing our graduates to hop from one job to the other. If we can churn 100 all rounded graduates annually, we shall have arrested this by providing a bigger talent pool for employers to choose from, said Prof. Walter Oyawa, Principal Multimedia University
>SAP is committed to ensure that upon the graduation from this programme, students also receive a chance to put the acquired knowledge into practical use in the real work environment. For this purpose SAP has started to work with its customers and partners to ensure the maximum number of internships for the graduates, which will further solidify their acquired knowledge.
>Editor’s Notes:
>About SAP
>The world’s market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 195,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of SuccessFactors) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com
>About Kenya ICT Board
>The Kenya ICT Board’s mandate and objectives are based on advising the Kenyan government on all relevant matters pertaining to the development and promotion of ICT industries in the country. In addition, the Kenya ICT Board provides government and other stakeholders with skills, capacity and funding for ICT projects in order to rapidly and innovatively transform Kenya through promotion of ICT for socio-economic development.
>About the Multi Media University 
>Founded in 1948 as Kenya College Communication Technology, MMU became a constituent College of JKUAT in 2008.With a student population of about 3,000,MMU is a Public University College mandated to provide training in Engineering, Information Technology, Media and Business related courses.
>Due to its rich history as a Technology College under Telkom Kenya, Multimedia University has the benefit and experience of working with the ICT industry in order to expose its students beyond the classroom theory and principles of technology.
>
>-- 
>Paul Kukubo
>Chief Executive Officer, Kenya ICT Board
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>
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-- 
Barrack O. Otieno
+254721325277
+254-20-2498789
Skype: barrack.otieno
http://www.otienobarrack.me.ke/ 

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