Currently deployed over 14 countries, mainly in Africa, this innovative initiative is based on the curation and production of open educational resources on digital technology, the mobilisation of African expertise, an e-learning system, the strengthening skills of Ministries of Education and Training, and the integration of digital accountability.
In 2021, the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) launched the pilot phase of the “D-CLIC, train yourself to digital skills” Project, an initiative that aimed at overcoming the challenges of accessing decent, sustainable employment and matching available training with job market needs in French-speaking countries. Young people, who represent around 60% of the population in this area, are between 2 and 11 times more likely to be unemployed than adults, depending on the country.
The “D-CLIC: train yourself to digital skills “Project aims to improve the professional insertion of French-speaking women and young people, as well as their opportunities to access decent jobs, in the business or in entrepreneurship, by strengthening their digital skills. D-CLIC focuses in particular on training for digital professions in the most promising sectors, in high-demand professions and in emerging professions. It also aims to strengthen the capacities of states and governments, enabling them to play a more decisive role in their digital transformation.
The context of global digital transformation, particularly in Africa, offers both challenges and opportunities. According to a report by the International Finance Corporation, sub-Saharan Africa could see an explosion of 230 million digital jobs by 2030, generating nearly $120 billion in revenue. However, to reach these figures, some 650 million training opportunities would need to be created by 2030.
Through the D-CLIC project, the OIF has seized this opportunity by identifying priority job families in the digital sectors, based on a 2020 study on the classification and mapping of digital jobs in the French-speaking area. Since December 2021, short training courses of 3 to 9 months, aligned with local market needs, have been successfully deployed in several French-speaking countries through local partners. For the pilot phase of the project, and in order to remain consistent with its objectives, notably to support vulnerable people towards employability, the IOF has chosen to focus its efforts on the job families of communication, digital marketing, user interface and digital creation, notably design and development, which are new professions or profoundly transformed by digital technology and require a certain adaptation of skills.
Successful pilot phase results
The results of the pilot phase, carried out in 10 countries during 2021-2022, are already very encouraging. The project aims not only to train young French-speaking people, but also to build the capacities of training operators. Fruitful collaborations between local and international actors have emerged, thus strengthening the digital training ecosystem.
Monitoring the project’s implementation has been a priority from the beginning, with follow-up missions in the field, regular meetings with local training operators and follow-up of young people’s integration up to 12 months after their training.
2023 brought a transition to the scaling-up of the D-CLIC Project. Four implementation countries of the previous year were renewed (Djibouti, Congo DR, Madagascar, Mali), and four new countries benefited from digital skills training (Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Senegal, Chad).
To date, the D-CLIC Project has been deployed in 14 French-speaking countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Congo DR, Djibouti, Gabon, Haiti, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Tunisia).
The program is strengthened with an online training platform
In order to reach a large number of beneficiaries and target countries, the OIF through D-CLIC relies on a e-learning platform offering digital training courses in French in open educational resources, including self-training or tutored courses on digital professions, training in basic digital skills, acculturation and digital literacy, as well as digital training for public administration executives. This platform benefits from the contribution of several French-speaking experts, particularly from Africa, notably in the design and evaluation of the training content offered. The 17th edition of eLearning Africa will be an opportunity for the OIF to present the platform and the entire D-CLIC program with the project team and invited experts.
