Zindi and Microsoft have partnered to host a virtual career fair for Azure Cloud practitioners in Africa, aiming to connect talent with the companies that need it. The event brought together employers such as Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Standard Bank Group, Entelect and iOCO with skilled cloud engineers and data practitioners from the Zindi platform to connect and share opportunities. With seven major tech employers partnering with Zindi, and more than 120 cloud practitioners participating in the evening event, the lively conversations and connections fueled a groundbreaking event in the African tech talent space.
“By 2050, 40% of the world’s youth will be in Africa,” said Celina Lee, CEO of Zindi. “This is revolutionizing the way the world does business, and Zindi is at the forefront of developing and connecting that potential with the many opportunities available in today’s connected global economy. Our partnership with Microsoft is just one way we data science building the workforce of the future.”
Aspiring cloud engineers and data scientists heard from experts such as Azure specialists Adam Alidra and Bethany Jepchumba at Microsoft, as well as industry leaders such as Kavi Pather, Advanced AI and Analytics Lead for Africa at Ernst & Young.
But the real learning and excitement was in the breakout sessions, when the keynote addresses were over. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in the breakout rooms organized by each of the partner organizations on the day, where they could learn more about working at the different organizations represented and interact directly with recruiters, hiring managers and technical leadership.
“Thank you so much for organizing this event,” said one participant. “I was so excited to learn that there are internship opportunities for data analytics beginners like me.”
The Azure Career Fair is part of a long-term partnership between Zindi and Microsoft, which aims to increase the quantity and quality of positions such as cloud engineers, data scientists and analysts from African countries. Microsoft has sponsored all three previous editions of Zindi’s UmojaHack Africa, the largest inter-university machine learning hackathon on the continent. Zindi and Microsoft are also collaborating to develop AI models through Zindi’s online machine learning challenges and to promote learning content from Microsoft.