Ten Nigerian female software engineers have been admitted into the Microsoft’s Leadership Engineering Acceleration Programme (LEAP) aimed at providing female individuals with experiences through project management and development courses.
The 16-week apprenticeship programme combines both traditional classroom learning with hands-on engineering projects, the tech company said.
The programme, led by the Global Innovation Team at Microsoft (Redmond, USA), and sponsored by Kevin Scott, Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft, will through a combination of strategic partnerships, trainings, real-world experiences and online classrooms environments, provide future skills to those entering the industry and those already in the workforce.
The LEAP finalists were selected at a hackathon hosted in June, where each participant was immersed in a one-week intensive programme comprising two-day classroom work, two-day hacking and the final day for presentation of their solutions.
Now each participant is to receive 4-weeks classroom training on Software Support Engineering and 12-weeks hands-on projects training involving real life scenarios at a partner organization.
During the training period, the participants will also be mentored by the engineering team in Nigeria (Lagos) and Redmond (USA).
“We believe that contributing to human capital development, empowering the youth, and creating opportunities for individuals and organisations will cultivate an environment that allows for growth of the knowledge-based economy,” says Akin Banuso, Country Manager at Microsoft in Nigeria.
He added: “As a technology company, we are acutely aware of the responsibility we have to ensure all workers have a path to gain relevant skills – no matter where they are in their careers.
“For this reason, we will continue to – in partnership with non-profit organisations, government bodies, learning institutions and other entities – to empower those already in the workforce with the capabilities needed to ensure financial stability, economic prosperity and opportunities for personal growth.”
The company however said that the LEAP participants will get an opportunity to take up employment at Tek Experts, a partnering company for the programme.
