Absa is Equipping Over a Thousand Staff Members Across Africa With Cloud Computing Skills

According to Absa Group, its cloud incubator effort is on track to exceed its objective of teaching 1,500 staff employees across Africa with cloud computing capabilities this year. Absa launched the cloud incubator program in March to help it along its digital transformation journey.

According to Absa, 1,496 individuals successfully completed the training by the end of October 2021, with an additional 280 expected to finish the program by the end of the year.

The initiative was performed in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS), whose global Skills Guild programme was created to assist major enterprise organizations in accelerating their cloud adoption journey and developing cloud fluency for employees. Absa personnel from South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Botswana, Zambia, Tanzania, Mauritius, and other countries took part in the program.

“At Absa, our goal is to ensure that employees are equipped with the right skills and, through the cloud incubator programme, we were able to bridge the skills gap in cloud technologies. Empowering our employees with cloud skills will unlock further potential for innovation and solutions that ultimately improve the way in which we serve our customers,” said Ebrahim Samodien, CIO: Group Services at Absa.

Absa is hastening cloud adoption and is now one of Africa’s top cloud adopters. Companies who keep their data in the cloud benefit from sophisticated ‘cloud computing’ capabilities. It means they can analyze, understand, process, and manage data on a bigger scale and at a faster rate.

According to World Wide Worx’s report titled ‘Cloud in Africa 2020,’ 97 percent of respondents in a poll either raised or maintained their cloud spending in the previous year.

The main result of the cloud incubator program was that participants were able to identify cloud opportunities and create more efficient, scalable services and solutions. Employees can now apply their understanding and knowledge to drive the bank’s large-scale digital transformation.

The program provided staff with a variety of learning opportunities, including workshops on the impact of cloud technology on the business, training sessions on how cloud decreases operating expenses and how cloud improves business processes.

“Since the launch of the cloud incubator project, I’ve had the impression that Absa is taking the cloud revolution seriously.” Prior to the Cloud Incubator initiative, I used to think cloud computing was simply a buzzword,” recalls Phumlani Mbabela, an Absa Lead Product Engineer who took part in the program.

“The program has also assisted me in improving my cloud expertise and technological skills,” Mbabela stated.

Participants in the cloud incubator program had the opportunity to experiment with cloud technologies outside of their responsibilities, while also increasing their abilities.

“I began taking advantage of the many free training sessions and acquired the AWS Solutions Architect – Associate Certification. I’m now preparing to renew my developer certification and level up with a professional-level certification as well,” said David Quagraine, a Lead Architect at Absa Bank Ghana.

“As if getting access to these free resources were not enough, I also have access to hands-on labs that allow me to experiment with cloud technologies not directly related to my current role such as data analysis and machine learning, which I enjoy very much.”