Black Girls in Tech Partners Cisco to Launch Cyber Academy
In collaboration with Cisco, UK-based organization Black Girls in Tech has unveiled its brand-new cyber academy with the goal of increasing the participation of women in the technology sector. Following the second Lagos conference, Tap into Tech, which featured high-level discussions on cybersecurity, product, engineering, research, and design, the cyber academy announcement was made.
Black Girls in Tech offers a sense of belonging and a secure environment for Nigerian women working in technology, increasing the representation of black women in the field by lowering barriers to entry into technical fields. Valerie Oyiki and Karen Emelu, who currently serve as the organization’s leaders for community and partnerships and growth, respectively, launched it.
The cyber academy, they claim, represents the continuation of their efforts to ensure that black girls and women in Nigeria are aware of the opportunities available to them and the skills required to start and continue their journey in an industry that has the potential to change the course of their lives, despite having frequently limited resources to access upskilling opportunities.
Members of the global Black Girls in Tech community can now enroll in any of the self-paced courses and earn an industry-recognized certification upon successful completion. The courses cover topics like Python and C++ programming as well as fundamentals of networking and cybersecurity. The training is free.
Emelu speaking said: “In our continued effort to serve as an educational resource for our community worldwide we are happy that we have the means to continue to engage our community by providing access to learning and training opportunities.”
About Cisco
The Cisco Networking Academy is commemorating its 25th year since its founding in 1997. It is still one of the oldest IT skills-to-jobs initiatives in existence. In order to assist instructors and engage students in 190 different countries, the Cisco Networking Academy offers top-notch IT courses, learning simulators, and hands-on learning experiences via a learning platform. More than 17.5 million students from around the world have completed courses from the Cisco Networking Academy to date. A employment or educational opportunity was obtained by 95% of students who took Cisco certification-aligned courses at the Cisco Networking Academy.
More than 1.07 million people have been trained and upskilled in Sub-Saharan Africa since the Cisco Networking Academy opened.
More than 345,000 students from 50 countries in the region were registered in Cisco Networking Academy courses during the company’s fiscal year 2022 alone. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 906 academies employed about 2,427 instructors to support these pupils.
Many of these individuals had their training in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. The initiative helped 411,194 people in Nigeria upskill, 189,272 people in South Africa benefited from it, and 104,978 people in Kenya received training in digital skills.