The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MICT) in Egypt has joined government and industry representatives in kick-starting ICT projects aimed at empowering the country's youth with much needed technology skills.

MICT Minister Yasser ElKady along with members of Parliament and representatives from the Port Said Governorate, Telecom Egypt and Egypt Post attended a ceremony to announce several initiatives, including the development of a new technology park in the governorate.

Land has already been identified for the planned technology park.

In a statement, MCIT said the spread of technology parks across the country is a bid to support IT exports and the outsourcing of services which can help to absorb young graduates from Egyptian universities while providing job opportunities in the ICT sector.

"This is in addition to meeting the needs of IT companies of young calibers qualified at the highest level, benefiting from the creative energies and creating a new generation of creative entrepreneurs in the ICT areas."

Abeer Shakweer, ICT Minister's Advisor for Social Responsibility and Services says ten new centers equipped with computers, projectors and internet connection will be opened to train young people.

"This is in addition to providing training programs in various areas of technology, such as computer maintenance, mobile phones, graphic design, and entrepreneurship through cooperation with leading global companies such as Telecom Egypt, Cisco, and Huawei and Vodafone."

MCIT has implemented similar projects in other governorates in Egypt including Cairo and South Sinai with more than of 35 centers built to date. The Ministry says it has signed agreements with the governorates of Giza, the Red Sea, and Fayoum to start implementing similar projects there.

In South Africa, Panyaza Lesufi, the MEC for Education in Gauteng Province, credited ICT for an increase in the number of young people who successfully completed the country's high school graduation exams.

The MEC said the government's initiative to roll out tablets and smartboards as part of a paperless education project saw improvements of up to 14,5% in schools where the programme was implemented. The estimated cost of the project is R2 billion a year.

MTN SA Foundation has announced it would be giving away a total of 100 laptops to ten of the best performing high schools in each of South Africa's nine provinces. Ten of the laptops would also be provided to learners with special needs across the country.

ICT company Dimension Data also announced a 100% pass rates for its Saturday School Graduates for another year. One of the top students in Gauteng Province took part in the IT company's Saturday School programme which is now in its 23rd year.