The highly acclaimed CWG Academy which started at her Lagos Headquarters four years ago, and has successfully trained and placed over 500 ICT professionals into various fields of industry, has now been extended to the other operational bases of the Pan African Company, including Accra, Kampala, Port Harcourt and Abuja, with plans to incorporate Cameroon by the first half of 2015.

The goal of the CWG Academy is to bridge the workforce knowledge gap in Africa by equipping fresh graduates with the required skills that will make them employable or become successful entrepreneurs.

Of the over 500 graduates from the Academy, about 85% have been employed in leading companies such as IBM, CWG, MTN, Standard Chartered Bank, Stanbic-IBTC, Chevron, Cadbury, Etisalat, Ericsson and Unilever among others, while about 10% have opted to become technology entrepreneurs.

Eager to tell their stories, some of the CWG Academy alumni shared their experiences; Ezekiel Oyerinde presently working with IBM West Africa as a Storage Systems Specialist says "I am a graduate of Biochemistry but ventured into IT after school. Though, I have gone to a couple of Computer schools, the CWG Academy was the opener for me into the world of endless possibilities in IT". Continuing, Oyerinde said "during the interview stage of my previous employment at MTN, I was pleasantly surprised to see that among those shortlisted, the CWG Academy graduates emerged tops. I consider myself blessed to have had a solid foundation provided through this laudable initiative called CWG Academy. I am grateful to CWG management and the Coordinator of the program".
    
Similarly, Dominic Julian currently working as a sales Executive in one of the IT Companies in Nigeria, attributed his career development to his encounter with the CWG Academy. According to Dominic, he was attracted to the academy because of CWG's Chief Executive Officer, Austin Okere who is a renowned leader in the industry, and was overwhelmed at the magnitude of the training he received from the faculty. "The fluidity exhibited by the technical team as they delivered well-thought-out interactive lectures and instructive practical training could only have come from excellent planning and attention to detail formulated by a seasoned team" Dominic remarked. "Apart from the IT related knowledge I garnered at the Academy, my self-confidence also improved, thereby granting me the tenacity required for my job. I don't think I would have been the rounded professional I am today without the CWG Academy experience. The Academy developed me from a green horn and gave me the opportunity to harness my potential in the ICT Industry" Dominic added.

The benefits of training at the CWG Academy are multifold; firstly, it enables the graduates to be employable in any world class organisation. Secondly, the academy offers participants the privilege to become experts using a combination of intensive classroom work, practical training and live project attachments.

With the extension into new frontiers it is expected that beneficiaries of the Academy will quadruple over the next two years. Laying out the future plans of the project, CWG Boss & Entrepreneur in Residence at CBS, Mr. Austin Okere says "this project which started modestly as a means of maintaining the steady supply of high skilled engineers to the CWG enterprise has grown in leaps and bounds to become a succor for ambitious trainable youth, who would otherwise be locked out of reaching their full potential".

Austin added "since industry has come to be dependent on our highly trained and qualified graduates, we shall be formalizing their placement through an online site currently under construction. We believe that this initiative shall contribute to the key aspiration of Africa, being inclusive growth and job creation".

The World Economic Forum predicts that Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education will be essential to the future of jobs globally. According to Mr. Philip Obioha, Chief Operating Officer of the Group "the CWG Academy plays a major role in preparing African Youths for the New Digital Economy, and is indeed a commendable effort worthy of emulation".