As digital technologies continue to reshape the way we live, work, and trade, there is a growing need for skilled workers to fill new digital jobs. This creates a major opportunity for Zambia’s youth population.
Over one in 10 Zambian youth are currently unemployed, at a critical moment in the implementation of the country’s National Development Plan 2022-2026.
‘Digital capacity has now more than ever become fundamental and an enabler to meet the new and everchanging demands of the digital world,’ Bernard Banda, Director, Economic Regulation, at the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA), told ITC.
With more digital jobs on offer, he added, firms must improve the services they provide, add new ones, and find people with the right skillset. ‘This has also extended to the need for cybersecurity of embedded e-commerce systems or digital services,’ he affirmed.
The National Development Plan identifies among its strategies for transforming the Zambian economy the need to build digital capacity, given the possibilities it affords Zambian youth entrepreneurs and what it could mean for people living in rural areas.
To help make good on the promises of this burgeoning digital economy, ITC teamed up with the Women’s Entrepreneurship Access Center and ZICTA. The goal was to help train 175 people in Lusaka and Livingstone so they could incorporate the latest digital technologies and tools, like artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and social media, in their freelance work.
Out of the 175 youth participants, nearly half were women, and to date over 60 of these freelancers have set up profiles on new freelancer platforms. Forty-three participants have since reported back that the training has opened up lucrative new work opportunities for them.
‘The We’Digit training programme gave me the confidence to complete my e-commerce website, as I was able to apply the knowledge I gained from the training,’ said Mercy Chewetu Mukupa, Founder and CEO of Queen of Chitenge Fashion Ltd. She plans to use the website to bring other designers on board, along with getting advertising revenue.
Clive Lusana, a digital freelancer based in Livingstone, credited the training for helping her learn how to use artificial intelligence tools for creating digital content. ‘The DIY model really helped me take responsibility over my own future,’ Clive said.
This training programme is the latest chapter in ITC’s ongoing work in Zambia to tackle the digital connectivity gap and create new opportunities for the country’s small businesses. For instance, ITC, under its Fast Tracking Digital Entrepreneurship in Africa programme supported by the Government of the Netherlands, has already trained several tech hubs, tech start-ups, and digital entrepreneurs on how to use the latest digital skills and tools.
Under that programme, also known as FastTrackTech Switch ON, ITC has brought entrepreneurs from some of these start-ups to major international events, such as the 2023 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and Web Summit in Lisbon, to network with peers. Thanks to these efforts, entrepreneurs like Muchu Kaingu, Chief Technology Officer of Zambia-headquartered micro-finance company Lupiya, have been able to make valuable connections.
‘These are partners we can leverage to continue building our platform,’ Kaingu said, referring to the new partners he connected with at Web Summit in 2023. ‘We’re also talking with an internationalization partner to register a holding company in the U.S., which would give us better access to capital.’
Lupiya has now raised $8.25 million in Series A financing, which it credits to ITC’s involvement via the FastTrackTech Switch ON work. This support is part of ITC’s strategy for making more Zambian fintech start-ups investment ready, so they can pitch directly to investors and venture capital providers at events like the annual Investor Days in Lusaka.
Looking ahead, ITC and its partners will focus their efforts on steps like improving digital connectivity in Zambia’s urban and rural areas, making internet access chapter and more consistent. Other upcoming activities include work on virtual marketplaces for e-commerce and helping MSMEs adopt online payment solutions, to name a few.
Zambia itself is a pilot country for similar efforts throughout the continent and further afield, which are all part of ITC’s ‘digital moonshot’ and align with its current 2022-2025 strategic plan.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Trade Centre.
