Building Africa’s data science talent pool

A Marketing Trends report by IBM in 2017 estimated that we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data daily. This has since gone up by several factors, taking into account the steady growth in digitisation and more users and devices coming online. Businesses, governments, and institutions are swimming in oceans of data, with a need to have it carry a commercial or another such positive benefit. As a result, the demand for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) talent is skyrocketing.

Predictably, data scientists and artificial intelligence engineers are emerging as the most sought after roles in STEM globally. Across Europe, the US, and Africa 13 million STEM jobs will need to be filled by 2025. Aging populations and shrinking labour forces in the western world should have us looking more keenly at this opportunity. Sub Saharan Africa is the youngest global region with a median age of 19.1 and the world’s fastest-growing population.