A collaboration between Absa Bank Kenya and Strathmore University has resulted in 105 Absa employees acquiring world-class digital skills.
The graduates make up the first cohort of the Strathmore University-Absa Financial Innovation (SUAFI) Programme, which began in April 2023.
The training program saw the employees complete courses in Cybersecurity, Data Science, Business Intelligence, Automation, and Dev Ops.
Ms. Mumbi Kahindo, the People, Function, and Culture Director at Absa Bank Kenya, hailed the achievement as a key milestone in the bank’s partnership with Strathmore University.
“Today marks a beautiful joint achievement of a key milestone by Absa’s partnership with Strathmore University, an initiative that seeks to ensure that our colleagues are upskilled with the necessary future-proofing skills that will enable them to adapt to an ever-dynamic workplace environment.”
Dr. John Olukuru, the Head of Data Science and Analytics at Strathmore, highlighted the significance of investing in business intelligence and data science skills.
“Data has been termed the oil that needs to be refined to petrol through analytics. It is wonderful to see Absa making big investments in the business intelligence and data science skills and knowledge of their employees, who will now be able to mine data and analyse the data to get relevant information and lessons that will enable the organisation to create the best experience and impact for their customers.”
The SUAFI Programme’s comprehensive curriculum covered cybersecurity, data science, business intelligence, automation, and DevOps.
The SUAFI aligns with Absa Bank’s brand purpose while emphasising a human-centric approach to employee empowerment through continuous learning.
The Talent Development Programme, which was co-developed by an Absa Bank and Strathmore Business School team, saw 500 employees apply, with the first cohort of 107 employees picked to complete the mandatory Agile and Scrum Methodology course before specialising in their respective fields of deployment.
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