Utiva, an educational technology firm, has successfully secured $500,000 in funding from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE).
This substantial financial backing is set to empower Utiva in scaling up its innovative FLiT program, transforming it into a comprehensive Pan-African digital apprenticeship initiative designed for young Africans seeking a foothold in the tech industry.
FLiT, an acronym for “Future Leaders in Tech,” is a dynamic digital job placement and apprenticeship program with a primary goal of bridging the hiring gap within the African tech sector.
The program, which was officially launched on June 21, 2023, at Utiva’s headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, aims to support gender equality within the technology industry.
Damilola Daniels, Utiva’s Programs Manager, expressed the company’s commitment, stating, “We firmly believe that this is the next aspiration of Africans – to go from classes to jobs, and we are stepping in to solve this problem.”
The essence of FLiT lies in its ability to identify the most promising tech talents from a pool of boot camp graduates, offering them focused retraining through project-based accelerators.
Crucially, FLiT apprentices are employed and compensated during their apprenticeship period, emphasizing their importance as key talents to their host organizations.
Notably, Utiva has already made substantial contributions to tech talent development, having trained over 50,000 individuals worldwide. FLiT represents a visionary leap forward, as it strives to connect top companies globally with the best talents that can supplement their in-house tech needs.
This substantial funding is set to further Utiva’s mission, propelling FLiT towards assisting 2000 women in starting their tech careers and aiding 1000 technology companies in recruiting top-notch talent within its first two years.
Utiva’s dedication to pushing the boundaries of technology and delivering exceptional value to the tech industry is evident in this remarkable endeavor. With FLiT, the future of African tech talent is looking brighter than ever before.