For graduate students in sub-Saharan Africa, studying at a world-class university is no longer a hope, but a dream that can be achieved.
An initiative of the Mastercard Foundation in partnership with Arizona State University, the Baobab platform empowers young African students to study user experience, information technology, learning sciences, and software engineering.
From left: 2021 Baobab Scholars Jennifer Sarfo, Kwabena Adu-Darkwa, Sandra Nabulega, Hero-Godsway Zilevu and Viola Melly.
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The program was conceptualized to build educational technology capacity on the African continent and prepare cadres of young African academics for employment and entrepreneurial ventures in the field.
Launched in 2021, the Baobab Digital Innovation Scholars Program will provide 25 young African scholars with graduate-level education and professional training over the next four years in areas critical to educational technology and the online learning space. To do.
Baobab currently has five graduate students in its first cohort at ASU. The second cohort consists of 10 of her students who were offered scholarships for various master’s degree programs. This cohort will begin classes in his August, followed by her third and final cohort of 10 students joining the program in 2023.
Jennifer Sarfo from Ghana is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Software Engineering through this program and describes herself as a future software developer. Her Sarfo, whose sister is an alumnus of her Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, said that her engineering training in software, which she has acquired through her program at ASU, has made it difficult for her to solve critical global problems that require her solutions. said that it can contribute to the resolution of
“I have always believed that mobile and web applications will never die out in this world. mobile and web applications will take hold.” Salfo, who had a bachelor’s degree from Ashesi University in Ghana before receiving a Baobab scholarship, said:
“I think Africans are looking for opportunities to study at prestigious institutions around the world that are less expensive than attending physically. Online education addresses most if not all of these concerns. and provide access to higher education that helps Africans acquire relevant skills.”
Sarfo currently works on the Salesforce team at EdPlus, building custom mobile and web applications using the Salesforce framework.
Sandra Nabrega, a statistician trained at Makerere University, was one of the first cohort of students from Uganda to join the Baobab Program. Nabulega was an alumnus of the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program before moving to his ASU to pursue his Master of Science degree. Nabulega said a university like her ASU, with its various learning resources, is where she’s always wanted to study.
“Learning about learning and how different people learn is something that no one has ever thought about studying at a local university on the continent. In addition to classroom learning, I have also embraced online learning, learning how to build applications using other languages such as Java and Angular and Salesforce. I’m curious to learn more about the differences and can’t wait to develop the application for the team.” she said.
Nabulega explained that online education is the future of learning in Africa. Given the circumstances of COVID-19 and what has happened to face-to-face classroom learning in the past two years of the pandemic, she explained the need for a shift to online education, which has been a priority.
Kwabena Adu-Darkwa, a Ghanaian information technology researcher, sees a bright future for IT on the African continent, given the exponential growth achieved over the past decade. He works for his Salesforce team at EdPlus, where he worked in the tech industry in Africa for two years before coming to ASU.
Adu-Darkwa said one of his goals is to leverage his programming skills. it will allow him to create Innovative educational technology solutions adapted to the conditions of the African continent.
“I think we will see a lot of innovative initiatives in this area for the African market in the next few years because of the growing interest in education technology. These solutions will become more accessible to the masses and Expand across the continent.I am working on an advanced information management system.My main goal is to connect learning content focused on big data.When I return to Africa, I will pursue this I want to,’ he said..
The Baobab Digital Innovation Scholars Program is part of Phase 2 of Baobab, the second five-year grant with the Mastercard Foundation, focused on training the educational technology talent pipeline of Mastercard Foundation alumni and scholars across the African continent. is placed.
Written by Atok Dan, Hubert H. Humphrey Fulbright Fellow at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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