Rwanda: 30 Tech talents to be supported through TECH UPSKILL Initiative
By Justin Kayiranga
On Wednesday May 2nd, 2021, The ICT Chamber of Rwanda, in collaboration with the German Association of Information Technology Companies (BITMi), has launched a competition to discover innovators in technology; who will be assisted in a variety of ways including connecting them with German IT companies.
This project, initiated by the Rwanda ICT Chamber in partnership with the German ICT Association BITMi, is aiming at creating awareness, building interest in young people, and identifying promising Tech talents and innovators across the country, as explained by Mr. Chris Dushime who was representing the Rwanda ICT chamber on Wednesday’s Press Briefing on this initiative.
He said: “It is a project aimed at expanding the ICT ecosystem in Rwanda and helping technology entrepreneurs create more jobs. So, in this program we start working with Rwanda Polytechnic (RP) to be able to find the talents in schools and start helping them so that at the time of being released, they will be ready to compete on international level.”
The fact that this project will focus especially on those who are still studying and graduates in ICT courses, the management of Rwanda Polytechnic sees it as a lasting solution as it will help students in improving their projects.
Dr. James Gashumba, the vice chancellor of Rwanda Polytechnic said: “In the teaching we do, we detect different talents but we face a challenge of not being able to support their projects because we, as university, don’t have the budget for them. And due to that fact, the student’s project gets delayed or stops while it was time to invest in it.”
As a talent detection project, it is expected to select 30 best projects. The best innovators with entrepreneurial projects will have the opportunity to join different incubation programs by 250Startups while the top tech talents will benefit from internship placement at local organizations and as well as partner companies in Germany.
Apart from the opportunities mentioned above, Emmanuella Ndwano ,the community manager at 250 startups , revealed that some of the successful applicants can also get mentorships and trainings that will prepare them to become successful investors.
Not only Rwanda Polytechnic students are eligible to compete for this opportunity as the competition is open to anyone with ICT-related project.
Applications are now being accepted until the 17th of June on the following link
Photo Credits: Yves ISHIMWE