Gavin Weale. Photo supplied
He’s a words man and content is his present and his future. Best of all, he does it for the love of other people, for Generation Next, and he came to South Africa to realise this ambition.
Gavin Weale believes in the transformative power of innovative education.
This journalist-turned-entrepreneur has dedicated his life to teaching digital skills and creating opportunities for South Africa’s youth, from Johannesburg to Cape Town, through his organisation, Digify Africa.
He’s been on Mzansi soil, settled in Cape Town a dozen years ago, and has never looked back.
Originally from the UK, Weale moved to South Africa in 2011. His first project, Live Magazine, was aimed at cultivating job creation for unemployed young people.
“The idea was that if you brought a group of inexperienced young people together and gave them ownership of a magazine, it was a great way to immerse them in, and learn the skills they need, to be journalists, to be content creators,” he said.
However, over time, Weale saw the limitations of the local media industry in terms of the number of opportunities available for gainful employment, particularly for younger, more inexperienced people.
It was this insight that instigated a shift towards a broader, more promising field and so he moved to the development of digital skills.
“Over the last 10 years, digital industries in South Africa, like everywhere else, have grown a lot. There are a lot more job and career opportunities, there’s new skills and new job paths emerging all the time,” he said and this is how Digify Africa had its genesis.
The organisation caters for the development of digital content and digital marketing skills but also focuses on digital literacy and digital skills for entrepreneurs. It’s a much wider platform than simply relying on traditionalist media.
“We’re now trying to provide stepping stones and opportunities mainly for young people for work opportunities with digital skills being the currency and the catalyst for unlocking the opportunities,” he added.
But the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the age of information and knowledge can be something of a double-edged sword.
Weale says digital equity means access to an online environment and requires accessibility. He adds that barriers to entry remain infrastructural and, in most instances, the high cost of data in SA and the rest of Africa.
But it hasn’t stopped him yet and he plans to overcome these hurdles. The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) presents a whole new world of opportunity.
“It’s a revolution that will create all types of new jobs and we are going to have to equip the youth with the necessary skills fast, and not get left behind by the rapid pace of technology,” he says.
“We must keep tracking the way these trends affect the job market and career paths.”
After all, adds Weale, investing in our youth is the most powerful means of securing a positive outcome for the future.
“Digify Africa has paved the way for numerous success stories, some of which include graduates from the organisation’s earliest cohorts,” Weale said proudly.
It’s a source of joy for him to look back at students who started at the bottom and rose to great heights in their professions.
“One of our graduates quickly rose to become the digital director at MTV Africa while a former participant chose to stay with us and now leads fundraising and business development. But there are many examples and stories like this.”
Through his work with Digify Africa, Weale has shown how powerful passion can be when it is channelled towards a cause you can believe in.
And leaving behind his life in the UK for a journey on the African continent is admirable, more than admirable in fact.
Because so many of us remain sheltered in our worlds, cordoned off by design from the opportunities, we all must make a difference no matter how big or small.
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