Agreement represents a strategic investment in job creation in the ICT sector

10 May 2017 – BCX today announced it would make a significant contribution as the new primary growth partner of WeThinkCode, a tuition-free programme designed to educate the next generation of software engineers in South Africa. BCX will provide R60 million over three years for WeThinkCode to invest in the next generation of talent in the ICT sector. With the support of this BCX investment, WeThinkCode will have more than doubled the number of entry-level coders in the South African Market by the end of 2018.

These funds will enable expansions and upgrades in WeThinkCode’s Johannesburg office and allow for the opening of a new campus in Cape Town in 2017. As part of this agreement, BCX and other Telkom Group companies will host 40 interns from WeThinkCode’s innovative educational programme every year for the next three years.

WeThinkCode was launched in South Africa in 2015, and first opened its doors to students in January 2016. WeThinkCode seeks to eliminate the skills shortage by developing 100 000 coders in Africa over the next 10 years, and is free to all participants. Nearly 40,000 South African students applied for the programme in 2017, and 200 students were accepted into the elite course.