A young Namibian information technology expert was among the first group of 20 participants from nine sub-Saharan African countries who benefited from a new professional training program in Germany with 19 leading international firms. The second round of this exceptional professional development program will begin in June 2011.

“Afrika Kommt!” (or “Africa is coming”), is a joint initiative for capacity building by leading German companies. It targets young, highly-qualified professionals from sub-Saharan Africa.

Germany’s industry and business leaders recognised Africa's potential and the possibilities for further economic cooperation. The German non-profit organisation InWEnt was then commissioned by the companies to organise and implement the programme. It is further supported by the Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius ZEIT Foundation and the Robert Bosch Foundation.

Tonata Mbango from Namibia was among the 2,100 hopefuls in the original applicant pool and was selected, with 44 others, for interviews. She made it to the final round with 19 other professionals and ended up spending a year in Germany, between October, 2008 and September, 2009.

The first Afrika Kommt! participants – eight women and 12 men – came from Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe,Ivory Coast, and Namibia.

Tonata Mbango is a petite, 27-year old Namibian woman who, in October 2010, had just returned from Germany after a two-week refresher course for the group. She is a Business Systems Analyst in the Human Resources Department of Telekom Namibia.

Raised largely by her grandmother in a village in northern Namibia, her family scraped money together that allowed her to attend the only private secondary school in the area (in Oshigambo). Tonata completed school at the tender age of sixteen and enrolled at the University of Namibia (UNAM) in Windhoek to study mathematics and computer science. For a woman in Namibia, this is a rare choice in terms of field of study. “I was the only female student in the mathematics classes,” she recalls.

She completed her Bachelor’s degree at the age of 20 and is currently completing an Honours degree in information systems, part-time, via the University of South Africa (UNISA).

Meaningful and beneficial professional development
During the Afrika Kommt! program, Tonata spent eight months of her year in Germany at the headquarters of leading IT company SAP, in Walldorf. Her Namibian employer, Telecom Namibia, is the largest telecommunications operator in the country (government-owned) and a client of SAP. The first four months were spent learning the German language.

The internship gave participants the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of management practice and to participate in economic, social and organisational change processes. This empowers them to establish a cooperation network between the companies in their home countries and German companies.

“The year in Germany was a very good experience for me as I was involved in project management, which I had not done before,” she says. “I learnt a lot and I was recognised as a professional, as if I was part of the SAP workforce.”

The professional knowledge and experience she gained she can readily apply in Namibia at Telecom. “In addition, I pass it on to my colleagues,” she says.

Similarly, Tonata could use the experience to enlighten people in Germany about Africa. “There appears to be a generalised view on Africa. I could inform my counterparts about Namibia, where we have good infrastructure in place and the economy shows steady average growth.”

Following the successful completion of the 2008-2009 program, the second Afrika Kommt! is due to start in June, 2011. Applications were accepted up to October 31, 2010 and the participants for this second round will be announced in January, 2011.