SUAFI program graduates pose for a celebratory photo. Nairobi.
The Strathmore University-Absa Financial Innovation (SUAFI) Program celebrated its first COHORT of graduates from the program. The partnership between @iLabAfrica-Strathmore University and ABSA Bank Limited oversaw the graduation of 105 ABSA Bank employees from the SUAFI program.
The selected trainees, chosen from 500 applicants, were required to complete a mandatory Agile and Scrum Methodology course before specialising in their respective fields of deployment. The engaging training programme, which started in April 2023, got the trainees embarking on courses in Cybersecurity, Data Science, Business Intelligence, and DevOps & Automation.
Dr Joseph Sevilla, Director of @iLabAfrica Research and Innovation Centre, cited the importance of the program, noting, “As a research centre of excellence in ICT innovation and development, we are proud to be part of the journey in upskilling the Absa staff in emerging technology.”
Absa Bank Kenya People Function and Culture Director, Mumbi Kahindo. Nairobi.
Mumbi Kahindo, Director of ABSA Bank Kenya People Function and Culture, stressed the continuous importance of upskilling the employees as a means of keeping up with the constantly changing banking sector.
“With automation, artificial intelligence, data science, and digitalisation becoming increasingly prevalent, organisations must adapt to these advancements in order to thrive. Upskilling colleagues with the knowledge and expertise required to leverage new technologies effectively, therefore, becomes a necessity,” mentioned Kahindo during the graduation ceremony.
Also speaking during the graduation ceremony, Christine Orono, head of People and Change, Absa Bank Limited, hailed the training and noted its importance and benefits to the trainees in executing their mandate.
“The journey was not easy but what I am proud of is that we have achieved nearly 100% transition.
Career-wise, we need to see some progress, how will you apply what you have learned here as ABSA grows to be more agile and more digitally mature?”
She added, “I’m looking forward to incorporating as many of you in the squads that we are running, such as SME and loan processing…We are looking for a greater appetite for ideation to programme an environment where the projects can land successfully.” The graduation followed the ABSA hackathon that took place on the previous day, bringing together great ideas and individuals. Two participants in the hackathon, Vanessa Chibukwa of Strathmore University and Kelvin Shilisia, got to walk away with cash prizes of 200,000 and 100,000 respectively.
Christine Orono lauded their efforts and projects, citing, “About the Hackathon that took place yesterday, I want to thank those who were here. We had two winners and what I am proud of is that our first-place winner was a student from Strathmore who developed a proper prototype of how our ABSA app should look like. In second place was one of our colleagues from the contact centre. His idea focused on mining the data from all the calls we receive, as there is so much we are missing.”
Key stakeholders pose for a photo during the graduation ceremony. Nairobi.
Dr John Olukuru, Head of Data Science at @iLabAfrica-Strathmore University, pointed out how vital data science is in making key business decisions in various sectors, not just the banking sector.
“It is wonderful to see ABSA making big investments in upscaling their employees’ talents in the fields of Business Intelligence, Data Science, Cybersecurity and DevOps & Automation. This will now enable them 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 to their customers,” said Dr Olukuru.
With the first graduating COHORT of the program, @iLabAfrica and ABSA Bank look forward to having more employees go through the training and becoming adept in the fields of data science, business intelligence, cybersecurity and DevOps & Automation.
By @iLabAfrica Research & Innovation Centre, Strathmore University.
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