Village Capital Tech Pathways MENA Program 2025 – YOA

Deadline: March 23, 2025

Applications are open for the Village Capital Tech Pathways MENA Program 2025. The Tech Pathways MENA program is designed to quick-monitor AI adoption and digital expertise improvement throughout Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, or the UAE.

This initiative will companion with 25 Business Support Organizations (BSOs) throughout these 11 international locations, equipping them to supply custom-made coaching to 10,000 particular person employees. Supported by Google.org, MinnaLearn, and the University of Helsinki’s “Elements of AI for Business” curriculum, this system goals to empower girls, youth, professionals, and employees in rural areas.

Problem Statement

The fast developments in synthetic intelligence (AI) are projected to contribute USD 15.7T to the worldwide economic system by 2030. Yet, the communities within the MENA area threat being left behind as a consequence of boundaries to adoption. With youth unemployment charges exceeding 25% – and over 45% for ladies – the area faces crucial challenges in aligning its workforce with the calls for of an AI-pushed economic system. Compounding this problem, solely 20% of employees in Tunisia display fundamental digital proficiency in comparison with 72% within the UAE, highlighting stark disparities in digital readiness throughout the area.

Despite the transformative potential of AI, employees within the MENA area face systemic challenges that hinder entry to its advantages. Outdated academic methods fail to supply the talents demanded by an AI-pushed job market, leaving many employees underemployed or unemployed. Gender disparities additional exacerbate this hole, with girls going through cultural and structural boundaries to workforce participation. If unaddressed, the talents hole in AI adoption might deepen socioeconomic inequalities, significantly for ladies, youth, and employees in rural areas. The penalties embrace rising unemployment, stalled financial improvement, and diminished world competitiveness for the area.

Benefits

• Access to Abaca: Tools for milestone planning, organizational diagnostics, and program monitoring by means of Village Capital’s Abaca platform, enhancing their operational capability.
• Increased Impact and Visibility: Participation in this system enhances the BSOs’ capability to ship impactful coaching, boosting their fame and positioning them as leaders in AI training inside their native ecosystems.
• Funding: Each BSO receives grants starting from USD 20K to USD 40K, which allow them to implement AI packages successfully and assist their native communities.
• Media Exposure: Get featured on Village Capital’s program web site and different collateral.
• Networking and Peer Learning: Become part of a regional community, enabling collaboration with different organizations, sharing greatest practices, and constructing partnerships.
• Training: Tailored coaching by means of a practice-the-coach mannequin, equipping their groups with the data and expertise to ship impactful AI-targeted packages.

Eligibility

• Operations in one of many following international locations: Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, or the UAE.
• Demonstrated success in bettering employability and digital expertise, together with proof of previous success tales and measurable impacts on beneficiaries.
• A robust give attention to supporting underserved audiences, together with girls, refugees, and different marginalized teams.
• Established engagement with native communities and a stable community of stakeholders, together with native companies, academic establishments, and authorities our bodies.
• Interest, willingness, and skill to ship packages targeted on AI, digital expertise, enterprise development, and associated areas.

Application

Click here to apply

For extra data, go to Tech Pathways MENA Program.