South African tech incubator WeThinkCode, which trains young software engineers, has received sponsorship from pan-African network service provider Workonline Communications in the form of high speed internet access.
WeThinkCode is open to anyone between the ages of 17 and 35, and runs full-time, two-year coding courses sponsored by leading South African corporates. The incubator aims to transform South Africa’s tech education landscape, bridging the gap between underdeveloped talent and the need for skilled IT practitioners.
“We have set ourselves ambitious targets, which we believe are realistic due to the scalability of our education model. This year, we will train 100 students, but we are aiming for 1,000 students by 2018, on our way towards training 100 000 coders across the continent,” said Camille Agon, co-founder of WeThinkCode.
“However, these goals come at a cost and that is why we are grateful for the contributions of the likes of Workonline Communications. High quality bandwidth will go a long way towards securing our ability to provide free education to the large expected numbers of learners who enrol for our course.”
Edward Lawrence, director of business development at Workonline Communications, said his company was committed to contributing towards a healthy IT sector in South Africa, as well as the rest of the continent.
“Our investments into worthwhile local initiatives such as WeThinkCode_ and Cape Town Garage are an important aspect of this,” he said.
“We believe that it is very important for corporates to give back to the communities in which they operate. We are only as successful as the connectivity of a region allows us to be, or the economy in which we operate, therefore it is in our interest to invest in companies, startups and individuals that contribute to the development of the industry as a whole.”
