Improving Employability Programmes in Africa

Emerging World’s Impact Assessment work helps Microsoft improve its employability programmes in Africa

A well designed and implemented impact assessment shows how programmes impact stakeholders. In the world we work in, these might include programme participants and the organisation they work for. It might also include partner (or host) organisations that are supported by the programmes and the people that they serve. In addition to understanding impact and providing insights on how programmes might be improved, such assessments can also be powerful communication tools that can help ensure sustainability, executive buy-in and programme growth. So, it is vital for programme managers that any impact is measured effectively and presented in a way that can be interpreted easily.

With that in mind, we’d like to share details of our recent work designing and implementing the 2020 Impact Assessment for the Microsoft Interns4Afrika programme.

About Interns4Afrika

The Interns4Afrika programme was launched by Microsoft4Afrika in 2016 in response to demand from within its partner population and operates across the Middle East and Africa regions. It offers talented young people 6 months of full-time work with a Microsoft partner organisation, working on real project, providing a kick start to future careers in sales, marketing or technology.

Host organisations are Microsoft Partners that come from within the Microsoft ecosystem in the private, public and non-profit sectors.

Interns4Afrika supports host organisations with the cost of recruitment, onboarding, skilling and Microsoft Certification of their potential next generation employees. The programme empowers local communities by investing in local graduates and local partners, providing real employment opportunities to young Middle Eastern and African talent to build a better future for the continent.

2020 Impact Assessment Report

In 2020, we completed an Impact Assessment Report for Microsoft’s Interns4Afrika Programme.

We worked closely with the Interns4Afrika team to design an impact assessment which would help them understand what kind of positive impact the programme was having and help enable growth.

We collected quantitative data through a survey sent to the Interns who completed the programme and one to the organisations that hosted them (host organisations). The survey included questions about the programme, training, and the overall experience. To gain qualitative data, we conducted telephone interviews with a selection of interns and host organisations.

“Great method to promote and improve the Programme” Lwareng Moruti, Interns4Afrika.

Once all of the data had been collated, the analysis process began. Through analysis, we looked carefully at the data to make sense of it. This enabled us to present it clearly within the Impact Report which was designed in accordance with the Interns4Afrika brand guidelines.

Six months on, and we were keen to understand which elements of the data were most useful, and if any changes had been made to the Interns4Afrika programme as a result of the Impact Assessment. We reached out to Lwareng Moruti, Programme Manager, she said ‘Yes, the employment and certification rate. We are working on a new project to find the trained and certified interns’ employment if they are not retained by partners. We are also very intentional with increasing the certification rate and we have systems in place to make that a reality’.

At Emerging World, we know how important it is for programme managers to understand the impact of their programmes and to be able to use the information to make improvements. So, it’s great to hear how our impact assessment work is helping to make positive changes.

To find out more about our impact assessment work

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