25,000 Nigerians To Undergo Tech Skills As Airtel Invests $120m In Data Centre

No fewer than 25,000 Nigerians from about 80 local governments across the country are expected to undergo technological skills training in the next two weeks.

This is even as Airtel Africa is investing $120 million in the establishment of a data centre, amidst increased technological penetration, where data is now central in the country.

The technological training, an outcome of partnership arrangement between Airtel and the Federal Government(FG) on its 3 Million Technical Talents (3MTT) programme, is targeting young Nigerians to boost the tech talent base of the country.

Disclosing this at a ‘Special Roundtable with the managing director/CEO, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Dinesh Balsingh,’ in Ikeja, Lagos on Tuesday, the director of Corporate Communications and corporate social responsibility(CSR) at Airtel Nigeria, Femi Adeniran, at the event, said, “in the next two weeks, we will be training 25,000 talents in our partnership programme with Federal Government on 3MTT.

It is going to be 4-month training where we will build tech talents.”

Stating that Airtel believes in the power of technology and digital skills to unlock new opportunities, drive economic growth, and uplift communities, he added that, the 3MTT programme is a bold step towards ensuring that Nigerian youths are active participants in the digital revolution.

The areas where the lucky Nigerians would be trained in include: Digital Marketing, Project Management Software, Cloud Platforms Navigation, Data Analysis and Visualisation, Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), CRM Management, Accounting Software, Graphics Design, and UX/UI Design, among others.

Meanwhile, the managing director/CEO, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Dinesh Balsingh, disclosed that Airtel Africa was investing $120million into the establishment of its data centre in Nigeria, saying, the centre, which would be unveiled next year, would be situated in Eko Atlantic on Victoria Island, Lagos.

A data centre is a facility that houses servers, networking equipment, and storage systems to process and store vast amounts of digital information.

For Nigeria, he said, the need for local data centre is critical as it enhances faster Internet and Low Latency as hosting data locally improves speed and reduces delays.

Similarly, he said a data centre ensures sensitive national data is stored within Nigeria rather than relying on foreign servers, adding that its customers would benefit immensely from the investment in the area of internet speed and stronger network connections.