Tek Experts, Microsoft renew partnership aimed at developing Women in IT in Nigeria

Tek Experts, a leading global provider of business and deep IT support services, and global IT giant, Microsoft are returning to develop more women in IT in Nigeria with the second cohort of the Microsoft Leap Apprenticeship Program (Microsoft Leap).

This cohort will begin on August 11, 2020.

Microsoft Leap seeks to recruit, develop, and train non-traditional talent for employability into the technology industry worldwide. The 16-week program will provide immersive experiences for the trainees through project management and development courses. Microsoft Leap combines traditional classroom learning with hands-on projects for its ten-women software engineering cohort in Nigeria. During this 16-week timeframe, the participants will be mentored by the Tek Experts and Microsoft engineering teams in Lagos, Nigeria and Redmond, Washington, USA.

In the first cohort, the trainees received 4 weeks of classroom training on Software Support Engineering and 12 weeks of hands-on project training involving real-life scenarios at Tek Experts’ premises in Victoria Island, Lagos. Since the program ended, some graduates of the first cohort have gone on to take up full-time employment at Tek Experts as Technical Support Engineers.

"We are excited to partner with Microsoft again on the second cohort of the Leap program. Tek Experts is committed to delivering high quality services to our clients and the best way to do that is by investing in female talent and equipping them with hands on experience that makes for long and successful careers in the IT field", said Ashim Egunjobi, Head of Business Development at Tek Experts.

"Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. With 100% employability on Tek Experts for the first cohort, we are excited to partner with Tek Experts again on the second cohort to recruit and develop women engineers to serve communities in Nigeria and beyond. Microsoft Leap is committed to upskill talent with a connectivity of employability not only to Microsoft, but also to Microsoft enterprise partners", said Chun Lu, Co-Founder of Microsoft Leap Apprenticeship Program.

The Microsoft Leap Apprenticeship Program (Microsoft Leap) is led by the Talent, Learning, & Insights organization at Microsoft (Redmond, USA), and is sponsored by Kevin Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft.

This initiative is consistent with Tek Expert’s commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the IT field especially with regards to women in technology.