HP Inc to educate 100,000 people in Africa over next three years

Vendor looks to address growing youth unemployment across the continent

HP Inc has pledged to educate 100,000 people in Africa over the next three years to help address youth unemployment across the continent.

As part of its HP LIFE initiative, the vendor has launched what it refers to as an "HP LIFE Centre" in South Africa, which it says will offer training in technology and business development.

Nate Hurst, chief sustainability and social impact officer at HP, said: "We believe that education is a human right, that technology in the classroom is a critical component for a 21st century education, and that in today's economy our learning is never done.

"Africa is experiencing rapid urbanisation and digitisation, and it's essential that people have access to learn skills for the work of tomorrow.

"This new HP LIFE Centre provides a launchpad for innovation and opportunity across the continent."

The initiative is part of HP's wider "sustainable impact" programme, which it said aims to enable "better learning outcomes" for 100 million people by 2025.

The announcement coincided with the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 - a festival honouring Nelson Mandela a century after he was born.

Global Citizen is an organisation which aims to end extreme poverty by 2030.

HP's initiative will see it offer free online training for users, while the tech hub in in South Africa will provide face-to-face support, with a focus on getting youths onto career paths.

When making the announcement, HP cited research which claims that youth unemployment levels in Africa are three times that of adult unemployment.

Africa will be home to 32 per cent of the population under the age of 30 by 2035, it added.