Vodacom partners with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation to empower youth with digital skills

Vodacom partners with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation to empower youth with digital skills

GQEBERHA - In a major effort to empower the youth of the Eastern Cape, Vodacom has partnered with the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and technology providers to grant young individuals access to digital skills. The initiative reinforces Vodacom's commitment to enhancing digital literacy for Africa's future generation in a province where the unemployment rate is one of the highest in the country.

In partnership with AWS, Microsoft, Skillsoft, and other organisations, Vodacom seeks to close the digital skills gap across eight African nations and to upskill one million young people by the year 2027. The Vodacom Group Digital Skills Hub is available in South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Lesotho, Egypt (Talimy), the Democratic Republic of Congo (VodaEduc), and in Kenya (Industry Digital Talent Program) to empower the next generation of digital innovators, enabling Africa's digital society and leveraging existing e-learning platforms in the respective markets.

This initiative is most relevant for South Africa since the youth aged 15-24 years and 25-34 years continue to have the highest unemployment rates at 62,2% and 40,5% respectively. According to Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey for Q2:2025, approximately 3,6 million out of 10,3 million (or 35,2%) young people aged 15-24 years were not in employment, education or training. More critically, Black African unemployment rate has consistently been higher than the national average and other population groups over the past 10-year period at 37.1%.

"The Eastern Cape province has consistently recorded unemployment rates above the national level and this has moved us to use digital technologies to provide youth from this province with digital skills and training to equip them for the job market in the Digital Economy. As a purpose-led organisation, the roll-out of the Digital Skills Hub in the Eastern Cape demonstrates our commitment to leading the way towards using our resources and technology to respond to socio-economic challenges that are seriously plaguing the country," says Zakhele Jiyane, Managing Executive for Vodacom Eastern Cape region.

According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), it is anticipated that by 2030, over 230 million jobs in Africa will require digital skills. Nevertheless, there is currently a significant gap between the availability and the need for digital talent on the continent.

In 2024, during the Opening of the Legislature, the Premier emphasised that 65% of households in the province had access to the internet and positioned the digital economy alongside agriculture, manufacturing, the oceans economy, and tourism as one of five key frontiers to drive growth. Responding to this call, the Eastern Cape Development Corporation has partnered with Vodacom to equip young people with the skills, confidence, and opportunities to compete on a global stage. "This partnership is an investment not only in digital literacy but also in the long-term social and economic transformation of the Eastern Cape," says Baphelele Mhlaba, Acting Executive: Economic Development and Sector Support at the ECDC.

The Vodacom Digital Skills Hub is designed to empower the next generation, to consider a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and entails fun and engaging practical digital skills training for young people. AWS Educate is one of the first programmes to be offered through the Digital Skills Hub and an additional programme to Vodacom's various existing online learning platforms. AWS Educate offers beginners an extensive library of self-paced online training that covers a range of topics from cloud fundamentals to artificial intelligence and machine learning.

"We are extremely excited about this initiative which seeks to inspire the next wave of digital innovators. Our main aim with this initiative is to not only address the digital skills shortage on the continent but to also nurture a pipeline of young talent and in turn advance Africa's digital future, boosting opportunities for empowerment in an inclusive digital economy," concludes Matimba Mbungela, Chief Human Resources Officer at Vodacom Group.