Trace Academia launches free online vocational training platform in SA

(From L-R) Trace co-founder and executive chairman Olivier Laouchez, French Minister Elisabeth Moreno, Thierry Verdel is the Rector of Senghor University, Carl Bernadac, Deputy Regional Director of AFD.

Elisabeth Moreno together with the co-founder and executive chairman of Trace, Olivier Laouchez and Trace Academia co-MD, Prejlin Naidoo, launched the company’s latest youth empowerment programme.

Created in response to the high rate of youth unemployment in South Africa and the continent, Trace Academia will focus on empowerment through educating and training young people.

More than 50% of Africa’s population is under 25 years old. The youth are struggling with the effects of a longstanding economic and psychological crisis. The reach of the global pandemic has further accelerated the need for new approaches to education.

Trace Academia courses are created in collaboration with leading companies, institutions and experts to ensure that the skills provided are well matched to market needs. A localised, interactive and entertaining course format keeps the learner’s attention and significantly improves course completion rate.

Trace Academia will primarily target young South Africans in its inaugural year. The platform will launch with several locally produced training courses including Get Started with Digital Marketing (Grow with Google), How to Become a DJ (Trace), Spark your Interest in Electricity (Schneider Electric), Become a Successful Entrepreneur (Valued Citizens & UJ), Become a Real Handyman (Leroy Merlin) and Own Your Situation (Durex). Trace Academia will take the learner through the journey towards skill acquisition.

The Trace Academia platform will offer:

• Vocational training
  
• Entrepreneurial courses
  
• Soft skill and well-being courses
  
• Social learning features
  
• Job information

Learning engagement - Engaging content keeps the learners’ attention and maximises completion
Testing and certification - Course certified by industry leaders providing credibility and applicability
Employment opportunities - Learners are connected to an ecosystem of employment enablers

With the mammoth goal of training over 25 million youth by 2025, Trace Academia aims to develop hundreds of courses to help empower these young people to become employable or become employers.

Development of cultural and creative sector

Part of the launch centred on the signing of a protocol of cooperation between the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Senghor University in Egypt and Trace to establish a partnership to support the development and professionalisation of the cultural and creative sector in Africa through the Trace Academia programme. AFD's financing of €650k will cover a training course dedicated to understanding the challenges of the sector and providing workable solutions. The learning content of the training is to be developed through this partnership between Senghor University in Egypt, Trace and Campus AFD, AFD’s training centre.

"To build Trace Academia, we've combined our expertise and experience in entertainment with cutting edge learning approaches adapted to the realities and cultures of Africa. The young people we have worked with in building the platform find the content highly engaging. In fact, in a recent study of 17-25 year olds in SA, Kenya and Nigeria, 96% said the app would motivate them to further their education or improve their employment prospects. We believe that Trace Academia has the potential to positively impact the lives of millions of young people in South Africa and across the continent," stated Trace co-founder and executive chairman, Olivier Laouchez.

Due to the high youth unemployment rate in South Africa, it was important for Trace to introduce the Trace Academia project as a getaway to Trace’s mission of entertaining and empowering young people to stand up and shine.

Trace Academia is set to be launched in the rest of the world by the end of this year, with more courses to be produced with leading companies, institutions and experts globally.

The Trace Academia application can be downloaded on the Apple App store and Google Play store.

More information on www.traceacademia.com.