100 African STEM postgraduate students to benefit from IIP 2024
SOS-Kinderdörfer Weltweit collaborates with iiAfrica to run 2-month program for free
July 2024
[Cape Town, South Africa] – Together with SOS-Kinderdörfer Weltweit, Industry Immersion Africa (iiAfrica), a pan-African Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) based in South Africa, is pleased to announce the Industry Immersion Program (IIP) 2024. The IIP is designed to reskill and upskill a niche section of African youth, placing them within the pool of the most desirable candidates on the global job market. The program achieves this by equipping African STEM postgraduate (Master’s and PhD) students and graduates with a targeted selection of in-demand industry skills; including business analytics, and corporate soft skills.
Since its inception in 2017, the IIP has trained 395 postgraduate STEM students from 28 African countries. This initiative fosters business connections between African graduates and German companies operating in Africa through internships and post-graduate employment opportunities. By the end of 2020, the program expanded its partnerships to include Academics Without Borders (AWB) in Canada, enhancing its scaling prospects. Partnering with AWB, the program successfully collaborated with the Strathmore University in Kenya to run the program in 2021.
In 2022, the program operated in five African countries, benefiting a cohort of 100 students, marking a significant achievement in scaling efforts. Notable features of the program include a fully-funded 20-week immersion experience, providing qualified STEM graduates graduating students and alumni with practical, skills-based training to contribute to Africa's economic transformation.
The 2024 edition of the IIP will offer yet another 100 specially-selected candidates:
- Job-ready skills
- Internship opportunities
- Further upskilling support
About iiAfrica
iiAfrica is a pan-African Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) with a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO) status and offices in South Africa and Ghana. The mission of iiAfrica is to enhance STEM graduate employability and entrepreneurship in Africa. Through its programs and initiatives, iiAfrica aims to support the growth of the technology ecosystem and drive sustainable economic development on the continent. At the heart of this resolve is the ambition to get up to 1 million African STEM graduates employed by 2035.
About SOS-Kinderdörfer Weltweit:
SOS-Kinderdörfer Weltweit is a registered charitable organisation committed to helping children who are orphaned, abandoned or whose families are unable to care for them by giving them the opportunity to build lasting relationships within a family.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Akosua Opoku
Communications Officer,
Industry Immersion Africa (iiAfrica)
akosua@iiafrica.org
+233 54 258 0603