The second Samsung Engineering Academy in Africa has opened in Nairobi as the pilot phase in South Africa comes to an end. The giant electronics manufacturer is working to establish engineering academies in selected African countries as part of its strategy to fast-track the entry of youth into the electronics job market.

The Engineering Academy program has a short-term goal of developing 10,000 Electronic Engineers across the continent by 2015.

The first batch of South African Engineers graduated from the academy after 10 months of training.

120 students from PC Kinyanjui and Kabete Technical have been selected to join the Kenya Academy, which will be located at the Woodvale Centre in Westlands, Nairobi.

The students will receive hands-on, practical skills training at no cost. After the training, Samsung will give the students an opportunity to intern at their service centres, and thereafter, serve as independent service technicians or employees in their retail channel outlets in the region.

“We believe we can best achieve our goal of positively impacting communities in which we operate by connecting our CSR initiatives to our history and core business,” says Samsung Business Leader East Africa, Robert Ngeru.

“Our aim is to promote co-operation, innovation and the exchange of new ideas in technology so that our products and technologies continue to respond to the real needs and conditions of the continent.”

Samsung plans to launch the third Academy in Nigeria in the first quarter of this year.

The academies are a part of the company’s global ‘Hope for Children’ initiative, which places a strategic focus on bringing attention to the worldwide need for childhood education and healthcare in an effort to improve communities worldwide.