Safaricom plans to recruit 62 interns

NAIROBI, KENYA: Safaricom has announced plans to recruit 62 interns by January 2017 in its agenda to woo more women to the technology field.

The internships will target 40 female university students under its Women In Technology initiative, with a further 18 internships open to all university applicants and an additional four internships that will be filled through the Association for the Physically Disabled of Kenya.

"Our technology internship programme is built on the knowledge that in order to continue Transforming Lives, we must continue to invest in building capacity to manage cutting edge technologies," said Thibaud Rerolle, Director of Technology at Safaricom.

Started in 2013, Safaricom's Women In Technology initiative has contributed to more female engineers joining Safaricom, lifting the ratio of female to male engineers in the company from nine per cent in 2013 to 20 per cent currently.

Successful applicants will job-shadow Safaricom engineers in their roles, before being assigned practical projects and duties. Internships are open to applicants, preferably those in their 3rd to 5th year of study in ICT-related fields including Computer Science, Information Technology, Electrical and Electronics Engineering or Telecommunications Engineering. Applicants must not have graduated.