INGRYD Academy, a Nigerian tech talent training and outsourcing organisation, has announced partnership with ISACA, an international professional association focused on information technology (IT) governance to assist young people to have access to the global digital market.
Khadijat Abdulkadir, founder of INGRYD Academy speaking during a press briefing said the partnership would open global technology jobs for many Nigerian youths.
According to Abdulkadir, “The essence of this partnership is to ensure that our young people are not in a disadvantaged position to access markets.
“We’re here to say that with INGRYD on the continent, we have an exclusive partnership with ISACA for the next five years. And for the next five years, INGRYD, as an academic partner of ISACA, can provide training and certify you for just $250; this is over 70 percent of the actual price.”
She explained that there is a need to put in more effort in certifying and getting the right technology skills needed to compete globally.
“Over the last three years, INGRYD has been in the market supporting organisations to get the right technology skills that are needed for them to compete globally. But that’s not enough because, when you look at our country, and even the continents, we need to do a little bit more to close the gap for the young people so that they can compete better.
“We are present in three continents- in Europe, specifically in the Netherlands, Amsterdam, in Nigeria, and in Texas, operating physically across different countries. Our objective is to provide competitive access to the market for technology talents. We also provide access to talents for organizations. So when we focus on one side of our business, we also look at how we can ensure that young people, because they are the most populous, can have access, so that they are trained and have the right certification to compete,” she said.
Abdulkadir highlighted the success story of the Academy, noting that INGRYD has trained over 8000 people so far, received 1000 of applications and graduated 1000 people.
“And from the organizational standpoint, the problem that we focus on solving for over 288 companies globally is, how do we ensure that you have the right talent to work for you. We have graduated over 1000 people, and one of the most highlighted challenges that we found in the market was that they didn’t have just the right certification to complete this investment.
“So, it is one thing to train people and ensure that they are good, that they can work. It is one thing to give them the practical skills to be able to do the work, but a lot of times, when you look at the global market, everybody just wants to know, what are you certified in?
“If you come somewhere and you say, I have five years of experience as a software engineer, they say, where did you go to school? Did you graduate? What did you study? Whether we like it or not, we haven’t entirely evolved away from those questions. Organizations globally just want to know if you are with the right accreditation and right certification to ensure that you can work on our technologies,” she explained.
Also commenting on the efforts being made by INGRYD to ensure people get ISACA certification seamlessly, Morenike George-Taylor, Strategic Management Director explained that the money is affordable in Nigeria, citing that INGRYD trainings in Europe cost about $1000 to $2,000 because people can afford it.
When you want to give someone a certification, the average person needs to pay 1,500 euros and get two vouchers. And organizations make this kind of investment in their people. It is the standard. But when you look into the market in Africa, especially here in Nigeria, it is a real challenge, because
“And so we took the burden of paying for the training, which is how we announced that we will give 4000 scholarships every year to young Nigerians. We do this yearly, and we take on the responsibility for training them,”.
