As part of the line up activities to mark the centenary celebration of the republic of Finland, a leading education and technology organizations from Finland and Nigeria will come together this month to run creative coding workshops for local students in Abuja.
The collaboration is part of the CodeBus Africa project, a 100-day tour connecting Finnish and African innovators as part of Finland’s official 100th anniversary celebrations.
According to a statement made available to the Daily Times by the Finland Ambassador to Nigeria, Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury, said, CodeBus Africa would be organized in Nigeria by the Embassy of Finland, in partnership with the Finnish Aalto University and Abuja-based innovation hub Ventures Platform.
Suomela-Chowdhury explained that the project, which is regionally sponsored by the Finnish global telecom leader Nokia, will place special emphasis on involving girls who still remain underrepresented among the users and creators of technology.
The CodeBus Africa journey will span ten countries in total – Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia – between February and May 2017.
“I am delighted that we are able to bring this project to Nigeria as part of our anniversary celebrations”, said Pirjo Suomela-Chowdhury, Ambassador of Finland to Nigeria, saying “I find it particularly important to reach out to the young, focusing on education and employment – critical factors in successfully building the future of any country.”
She said: “With its focus firmly on the young, this innovative activity will consist of creative coding workshops. Students will pair up to learn coding and to produce their own song with the free open-source platform Sonic Pi. Peer support, creative self-expression and a tangible final product are all elements designed to make the learning experience positive and rewarding. At least half of the participants in the workshops will be girls. The aim of the project is to boost grassroots level teaching of computer programming, and to contribute to long-term efforts to promote quality education, youth empowerment and employment,” the Ambassador added.
“We are very lucky to have such a great local partner as Ventures Platform working with us. They have a critical role in planning and implementing the project, and have been absolutely invaluable. Without them this project simply would not have been possible.
” I am also extremely grateful for the partnership of Nokia. As a global leader in innovation and technology worldwide, they have the capacity to transform lives through shaping the future of technology. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to work together with them in putting this capacity into the use of the common good.”
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