Several ICT companies have responded to warnings by stakeholders that Africa's education sector is facing a crisis.

South Africa's Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga recently told a meeting of education MECs, department heads and teacher unions in Johannesburg that failure rates are akin to a national catastrophe.

MTN SA Foundation has since announced the investment of R2.6 million worth of computer laboratories in the South Africa's Vaal region days after the Sage Foundation made a donation of two converted shipping containers to serve as a Library at The Little Rose Centre in Kliptown, Soweto.

Ivan Epstein, President of Sage International and Chairman of Sage Foundation promises further investments in education in order to make a difference in the lives of millions of people around Africa.

"Lots of Sage employees are already involved in volunteering and grant programmes – we're extending and building on this. Our team is excited to be part of the Little Rose project, which strives to build a better future for children excluded from good educational opportunities. We hope that the Sage Foundation Library will give the Kliptown children a safe facility where they can study."

Kusile Mtunzi Hairwadzi; General Manager of MTN SA Foundation says their charitable step in aid of school children is not a final act.

"The support from the Foundation is a part of our on-going commitment to ensuring that we make a positive difference in the communities we operate in and contribute positively to the development of learners who will contribute to the growth and sustainability of our economy," summed Hairwadzi.

Continent-wide goodwill

Safaricom in Kenya has announced that it is part of the 2016 edition of the Technovation Challenge which is a 12-week Tapp development and mentorship programme aimed at cultivating interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) studies, as well as igniting young girls' interest in ICT careers.

"Mobile has the ability to transform lives in ways no other technology can. By giving young girls an incentive to apply themselves to the issues they face using technology, we hope to nurture the next generation of home-grown innovators," said Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom.

Since 2014, over 700 high school students in over 22 schools have participated in the challenge. Last year's winners, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Secondary School from Mombasa, made it to the semi-finals in the global competition held in Silicon Valley.

Enterprise application software company SAP also announced the graduation of 75 South African students from its SAP Skills for Africa job creation initiative last week after the first group of graduates from Kenya graduated in 2013 and 2014, as well as those from Morocco in 2015.

The South African chapter of the SAP Skills for Africa initiative was announced four months ago and forms part of SAP Africa's commitment to train ICT consultants across the continent.

Brett Parker, Managing Director at SAP Africa says SAP Africa cannot achieve its ultimate objective of improving people's lives through the deployment of innovative industry-specific software solutions without developing the right skills and creating the right jobs in the communities in which we do business.

"The value of the SAP Skills for Africa programme is that every student who has successfully completed their studies will go on to internships with SAP partners and customers involved in the initiative," said Parker.

The South African programme represents collaboration between SAP Africa and local SAP customers and partners, including Accenture, ATOS, Britehouse, BMW, Consnet, Gauteng Provincial Government, Multichoice, Tata Consulting Services, T-Systems and MICT SETA.