Ishango, a social enterprise creating highly skilled jobs in Africa and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Africa’s first and largest network of centres for innovative post-graduate training in mathematical sciences, have announced a partnership to connect top African data scientists  with international work experience opportunities.

The partnership will boost African data science graduates’ employment prospects through a fully funded, three-month fellowship program. The fellows will be equipped with technical and soft skills to prepare them for the international job market. Hosted at the AIMS Rwanda Centre of Excellence in Kigali, fellows will also get real-world experience, working remotely on projects and adding value to international organisations.

Eunice Baguma Ball, Co-Founder of Ishango said, “Leveraging data has become increasingly crucial for the growth of businesses and organisations across the globe. Thanks to the work of institutions like AIMS, Africa now has a growing pool of bright and talented data scientists who have the potential to compete at a global level. At Ishango, our goal is to be the bridge between Africa’s top talent and global businesses. Through this partnership with AIMS, we now have access to the very best that Africa has to offer. We look forward to working together to develop the data leaders of tomorrow.”

Dr. Charles Lebon Mberi Kimpolo, Director of the AIMS Industry Initiative added that, “With the growing  technological advancements, things are becoming more and more connected. In today’s smarter communities, traditional data processing software and techniques cannot deal with the analysis required to understand human behaviour. Specialised technical skills and tools are needed to deal with such large data and information. This is why we need to build capacity and create a critical mass of data scientists equipped with the required skills to understand how to perform complex data tasks across various businesses. AIMS is proud to partner with Ishango to leverage its partnerships and networks to provide AIMS alumni with opportunities to learn new skills and contribute to human capital development needed by partner companies. We believe this data science and AI fellowship program will boost AIMS alumni’s employability skills and enhance their transition to relevant employment.”

About Ishango

Based in London and Berlin, Ishango is the bridge between Africa’s top talent and global business. We give global companies the ability to access an untapped talent pool – African Data Scientists. We take the top graduates across Africa and give them both Data Science knowledge and real-world project experience through our three-month, fully funded Data Science fellowship program, which equips them to tackle quantitative problems across sectors, industries, and continents. To learn more visit: https://ishango.ai/.

About AIMS

Founded in 2003, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is a Pan-African network of centres of excellence for post-graduate training in mathematical sciences, research and public engagement in STEM. With centres in South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and Rwanda. AIMS is leading Africa’s socio-economic transformation through innovative scientific training, cutting-edge research, and public engagement for the continent’s scientific emergence. With expertly tailored academic and non-academic programs spanning through Centres of Excellence, Research Centres, the AIMS Industry Initiative, and Gender-responsive Teacher Training, AIMS equally created two critical initiatives: Quantum Leap Africa to look into the coming quantum revolution and the Next Einstein Forum to propel Africa on to the global scientific stage. For more information, visit www.nexteinstein.org.