Interswitch and the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) have partnered to develop and extend the acclaimed MEST training programme, helping it directly impact and benefit Nigeria’s IT entrepreneurs and its rapidly growing domestic ICT industry.
The fundamental goal of the Interswitch MEST partnership is to ensure the training, mentoring and supporting of young Africans at the MEST campus in Accra, Ghana.
“The Interswitch MEST partnership will take several forms. First, the extension of the MEST programme to Nigerian students (2014 marks the first year that students outside of Ghana will be considered). The first year will comprise Nigerian and Ghanaian students working side-by-side in the MEST Accra campus with new Nigerian faculty members being trained according to the curriculum. The second year will see all students, new faculty and some existing staff moving to the MEST campus in Lagos, Nigeria,” Interswitch said.
“We’re proud of what we’ve built thus far,” said Neal Hansch, managing director of investment and incubation at MEST. “Partnering with Interswitch will allow us to build on that success and jolt our efforts in the West African region. Nigeria is an extremely important piece of the puzzle in order for us to provide the most competitive environment for our students to then build Africa’s greatest tech products. Interswitch will be a driving force behind that.”
Mitchell Elegbe, group managing director, Interswitch Transnational Holdings, said: “We’re delighted to be driving employment in Africa’s ICT industry, through this important partnership with MEST. Interswitch has long been developing products and services that help African businesses to grow, operate more efficiently and create jobs. This partnership is a natural extension of that work, in a field we are particularly passionate. This is an extremely exciting time for technology in Nigeria, and we look forward to showing young Africans how they can meet their potential in the sector.”
Minister of communication technology Dr Omobola Johnson said: “One of the ministry’s focal points is to develop local content, creating an environment that fosters innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. We look forward to the success of this initiative and world class software companies in Nigeria, being created as a direct result of this collaboration.”
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