mLab and The Innovation Hub expands their CodeTribe Coding Academy to Soweto.

Soweto youth will join the coding revolution with new CodeTribe Academy.

Soweto, South Africa, June 16, 2016 – mLab Southern Africa today announced the expansion of its partnership with The Innovation Hub to empower Soweto youth with mobile development skills.

“This is such an existing partnership for us. Over the last 2 years the mLab and Innovation Hub teams have been working hard on building out a programme that empowers youth with market appropriate mobile development skills. This commitment by The Innovation Hub and the Gauteng Province now brings further opportunity for youth in some of the provinces’ most vibrant and youthful communities and opens the door for them to join the tribe and participate in the coding economy” Rulani Nevhufumba, mLab Facilitator & CodeTribe Coach, mLab Southern Africa.

The partnership will see the expansion of the existing CodeTribe Academy at The Innovation Hub in Tshwane as well as the launch of a new academy in Soweto based at The Innovation Hub’s eKasiLabs Centre located at the Soweto Empowerment Zone.  Further academies are planned in other township communities within Gauteng in the next 24 months.

The CodeTribe Academy is a full bursary programme that trains youth on developing for Android, backend and Cloud while using SCRUM Agile methodologies.

The academy has trained 36 students as part of its initial setup and course validation and have now opened applications for 60 bursaries for the next CodeTribe Season in Soweto and Tshwane.

“A promise made is a promise kept, is a commitment that our Premier David Makhura has made to the people of Gauteng.  During his State of the Province Address in February, the Premier committed to the establishment of a CodeTribe in the township.  We are excited about our expansion of the eKasiLabs Centre in Soweto, which will now host a CodeTribe Academy, a programme of The Innovation Hub and mLab.  We are committed to the Township Economy Revitalisation through technology and empowering the youth in software and mobile apps coding.” McLean Sibanda, CEO The Innovation Hub

Read the experiences from a 2015 CodeTribe Graduate

Applications to apply for the CodeTribe in Tshwane and Soweto are now open at www.mLab.co.za/codetribe

mLab Southern Africa is a technology accelerator and non-profit company (NPC), established by the The Innovation Hub and its founding partners, to focus on skills development, product development and enterprise development within the technology innovation economy across the mobile, internet of things, data sciences and digital design verticals.

The Innovation Hub Management Company SOC Ltd (“TIHMC”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (“GGDA”), was established by the Gauteng Provincial Government through its Department of Economic Development (DED) to establish and manage The Innovation Hub as a science and technology park to promote socio-economic development and competitiveness of the province through innovation.

The purpose of establishing the eKasi Labs programme is to take innovation to the people by establishing co-creation and innovation spaces in the townships where local communities are able to access the services and facilities that are offered at The Innovation Hub. Extending these services and facilities to the townships addresses problems of access and seeks to re-industrialise the community and unemployed youth so that employment is created in their area of residence through skills and enterprise development.