Via an initial partnership with the Coalition’s founding member Sterling Bank, Nigeria’s largest commercial bank, Nexford University will equip learners with core banking skills via its newly launched The Language of Banking course. The partnership and banking specialization course aim to address the recruitment challenges faced by both graduates and employers and the widening skills gap in the industry.

The lack of skilled graduate talent has seen banks forced to hire over-qualified employees for entry level jobs, resulting in high turnover and associated costs. With increased adoption of online banking and fintech products – which require further digital skills, the gap between what banks need and the talent supply on the market is widening even further.

Nexford aims to enroll 5000 learners in the course within the first twelve months, supported by Unify. The holistic EdTech platform for tertiary education in Nigeria will market the course to its community of higher education stakeholders, including learners and institutions. The affordable course – at $150 – provides graduates with access to entry-level banking jobs and creates a pathway to future success. Nexford graduates enrolled in the course will be considered first by Coalition partners during recruitment for relevant roles. 

Additionally, Unify has identified entry-level jobs experiencing the largest skills gaps, to ensure the course is tailored to addressing the hiring difficulties encountered by commercial and micro-finance banks. The course will leverage Unify’s expertise in career services and resources, providing learners with mentors, CV reviews, and interview preparation for banking roles – optimizing job-readiness and addressing the prevalent issues in hiring for entry-level jobs. 

As a Nexford Banking Coalition partner, Sterling Bank will benefit from access to a strong pipeline of talented graduates ready to begin banking and finance careers, giving them clear recruitment advantages. As part of the collaboration, Unify has evaluated onboarding requirements from banks to inform Nexford’s course development – ensuring talent is well-versed in the training material typically taught by banks to graduate hires. 

As learners graduate with solid foundations in the fundamentals and principles of finance and banking, partners will see new employee onboarding time reduced from approximately six months to just three weeks – a major cost-saving and productivity boost.

Fadl Al Tarzi, founder and CEO of Nexford University, commented:

“Nexford’s Banking Pathway Coalition is incredibly exciting. Through the Coalition, Nexford will help solve the problem of hiring qualified entry level talent in the banking industry, despite graduate unemployment in the country remaining high. Nexford’s banking focused certificate will give learners an advantage over other applicants as demand for banking jobs in Nigeria grows, setting them up for promising careers in the industry.

“We look forward to continuing to work alongside our long-term partner Sterling Bank and the other Coalition members to improve talent recruitment, create job opportunities, and push forward social and economic mobility across Nigeria.” 

The announcement of the Banking Pathway Coalition follows Nexford’s ongoing partnership with Nigeria’s largest commercial bank. Since 2021, Sterling Bank has underwritten loans for Nexford learners and provided scholarships and internships during studies, and benefitted from access to graduates with skills specifically tailored to its corporate needs. 

Since inception, Sterling Bank has sponsored over 200 of its employees to upskill themselves through Nexford programs, has provided scholarships to over 1,500 Nigerian youth, and has hired as well as provided internships to dozens of Nexford Bachelor of Business Administration (“BBA”) graduates. Whilst the course is not-for-credit, BBA learners will benefit from access to the course at no additional cost upon the completion of 75% of their program, underscoring Nexford’s institutional commitment to career readiness.

Samuel Omokanye, General Manager of Unify, added:

“We are thrilled to support Nexford’s Banking Pathway Coalition. As an EdTech operating in the tertiary education space, we know how important it is for courses and programs to be tailored to the workplace. 

“Identifying the operationally critical roles employers struggled to fill with entry-level talent – such as relationship managers, credit operations staff, business analysts, customer service officers, settlement and reconciliation officers, amongst others – will allow for specifically designed courses which provide learners with the skills to fill these roles from day one.

“We look forward to seeing the difference made by the graduating talent pool, and trust employers will benefit from easier recruitment and on-boarding moving forward.”

Nexford’s first Language of Banking Course will begin on 1 May 2023, with graduates completing it within eight weeks. Over the coming few months additional pathway programs will be launched to prepare Nigerians for additional jobs across the banking sector and alleviate industry-wide talent shortages. These bundles will include:

• Language of Banking + Professional Communication
• Language of Banking + Digital Marketing Fundamentals
• Language of Banking + Data Analytics

Nexford also plans to launch further pathway programs covering various sectors across Africa, informed by partnerships with relevant companies and organizations. These will bring Nexford’s affordable, skills-focused, courses to even more learners across the continent; addressing talent shortages and helping reduce unemployment.

Nexford’s tech-enabled business model delivers education efficiently and affordably without compromising on quality. Average annual tuition for a Master’s degree from Nexford costs $2,800 – a fraction of the US national average of $36,000. Nexford received its full, US accreditation for its courses by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission in 2023.

As well as addressing the major challenge of affordability, Nexford University is committed to improving the relevance of higher education – using AI to analyze millions of job openings and design a curriculum providing learners with the skills most desired by global employers. Since inception in 2019, Nexford has offered over 100 skills-focused courses, with over 8,000 learners who have completed over 33,000 courses and 1,500 degrees.  

Despite industry-wide efforts to bridge the gap, Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that there will be a 350% increase in the number of vacant cybersecurity roles by 2025, giving 3.5 million openings. The shortage rate of cybersecurity skills is alarming, compared to cybercriminal skills which seem to be in excess these days.

In a study by Information Systems Security Association International (ISSA), it was found that about 95% of cyber professionals believe the skill gap has not improved over the past few years, and 44% believe it has gotten worse.

For these reasons and more, Nexford University, an American online University enabling students to earn globally recognised, affordable and accredited degree programs in a range of high-demand tech skills, has positioned itself to take up the challenge of reducing the existing gap in the sector.

Delving deeper into the effort, Fadl Al Tarzi, Founder and CEO of Nexford University, tells us how the AI-driven, next-generation University platform is set to enable African learners to take hold of the education and career opportunities amidst rapidly growing global demand for cybersecurity skills.

Fadl explains that talent shortage and mismatch in skill distribution are the reasons why the cybersecurity sector still has a large void. 

Owing to Fadl’s findings that show 63% of employers report unfilled cybersecurity roles, plus the above reports, this cannot be denied. 

The reason for this insecurity is well known, and the Covid 19 pandemic fueled this digital acceleration. “In a few years, there will be about 1.5 million job vacancies in cybersecurity. The digital transformation accelerated by Covid has resulted in a huge level of exposure for organisations.”

The statistics around cybercrime and the need for increased security make the cybersecurity role unique and important among other jobs.

Nexford University trains its students to become skill-ready, leveraging opportunities in the space as they delve into the problem-solving world. This is in the face of 15% of organisations having severe understaffing in their cybersecurity teams.

Cost of Cybercrime

The cost of cybercrime, according to Cybersecurity Ventures, would cost the world $8 trillion by 2023. This prompted the next question: 

TE: If the cost of cybercrime is predicted to hit $8 trillion in 2023, why do you think some organisations are still reluctant to even think about cybersecurity measures?

Fadl: In this case, adoption is slow, but it’s high time organisations realise the magnitude of the cybersecurity threat. These organisations tend to be slow to adopt, innovate or adapt. It’s similar to health insurance if you think about it. Adoption of health insurance across Africa is super low as there are supply shortages. Organisations tend not to invest in areas unless they see potential in those areas. 

Same way organisations will invest in cybersecurity if they see some amount of interest or if there are compliance or regulatory requirements where the organisations have some sort of cybersecurity system in place, this could help boost cybersecurity adoption. Cybersecurity insurance could help in this aspect.

TE: Considering that the global workforce needs to almost double to meet demand for cybersecurity expertise, how is Nexford University working to fill this gap and preparing its students to not just acquire the skill and dump it, but have a problem-solving mindset focusing on the sector hands-on?

Fadl: I think the way to do it is to show them what the opportunities are. Affirmatively, most students go through an education program as a means to an end, they use it as a pathway to a specific career though they are not likely to pursue that career, just learning the skill to have additional skills. Unlike a college degree, a bootcamp or facility programme like the cybersecurity programme isn’t just a credential that you are going to hang on your wall, it’s a lifelong skill you can use across many industries. It’s a skill that never expires or diminishes in value over time.

So, we try to encourage our learners going into this programme to be serious about pursuing a career in this particular area, and in many cases, people are looking to reskill so there are lots of jobs in this aspect, like IT support jobs for example, increased automation as a result of AI.

TE: Pertaining the Huge opportunity Nexford offers to African learners with cybersecurity skills to access well-paid global tech careers & remote employment opportunities, how would this work? How can they access this? Is it just by getting a certificate from your school? Or you have to attain a certain requirement?

Fadl: For us in the cybersecurity boot camp, you have to complete the programme successfully in order to qualify for jobs. The reality is that you won’t be able to complete the programme if you do not meet a minimum standard. It’s sort of equivalent to a minimum range in an MBA programme or a degree programme. You really have to put in a lot of effort to complete the programme as well as a project in order to receive the qualification. 

You have access to a career coach and once you start getting involved and get all your credits right, you have access to online jobs in this field.

There are industry-recognised certifications which we do not offer by ourselves, but we prepare our students to practice and get these qualifications. So if the students are studying the programme from scratch, they will be prepared to get these certifications.

TE: Can an individual without prior knowledge of cybersecurity get into this programme?

Fadl: Yes, the programme is structured for people with no prior cybersecurity knowledge. They will be able to start from scratch and scale.

Even though no prior certificate in cybersecurity is needed, they’d need a foundation of education, when they started learning how to learn. They don’t need to be college graduates.

TE: When Nexford University connects students to remote jobs across companies in different countries, does it have a cut in their earnings or is there something else you gain? What degrees does the school offer?

Fadl: We don’t take any share of it, you keep 100% of your earnings.

Nexford offers Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees with many specialisations, a range of individual courses, bootcamps and certificates, but doesn’t offer the PhD.

The cybersecurity bootcamp has been evaluated, for credits and has been accredited by the American Council of Education. 

To complete the bootcamp you have to offer a number of courses. You can offer a cybersecurity programme which is transferred into the degree programme as well.

The coalition aims to bridge gaps between employers and Nexford University to the benefit of talent across the world.

Members of the coalition program are forward-thinking employers committed to leveraging education to drive business performance.

These employers recognize the value of upskilling and reskilling their team members, in addition to the value of partnering with universities to recruit qualified entry-level talent.

In 2021, Nexford announced the launch of its Learn to Earn (LTE) pathway programs, aimed at connecting aspiring talent to businesses and facilitating graduate recruitment, with partners already confirmed from multiple large employers across Africa.

Initial members of this ‘Career Coalition’ include a diverse range of leading employers such as Allianz, Sterling Bank, Venture for Capital, Eva Pharma, Hassan Allam Holding and open banking fintech company Mono.

Employers participating in the program will share data about their workforce and skill gaps with Nexford, which the university will use to design tailored pathway programs for learners to acquire the ideal skillsets that best fit with the needs of partner employers.

Learners from select career coalition partners will be able to apply for partial and full scholarships when enrolling into one of the employer-focused pathway programs to gain specific certificates or degrees. Current employees of ‘Career Coalition’ partner companies will have the opportunity to be reimbursed for completing selected degrees with Nexford University on graduation.

Nexford is committed to solving the world’s biggest employer challenge – skills – and bridging the gap between learners and employers. The Career Coalition complements Nexford’s continued global expansion, and its commitment to enable social and economic mobility through high quality yet affordable American education, 100% online.

Fadl Al-Tarzi, CEO of Nexford University, commented:

“The Career Coalition program is designed to seamlessly integrate employer needs into Nexford’s programs – creating more meaningful connections between employers and talent. It will benefit learners, and employers, while reducing the amount of subjectivity that currently exists within the recruitment process, as well as the traditional learning & development process. Through purposefully designed programs and data-rich tools both employers and talent should be empowered to make more meaningful decisions.”

Jennifer Bangoura, Director of Career Innovation, Nexford University, commented:

“From attracting qualified talent to maintaining employee motivation and retention, we are consistently hearing from employers, employees, and job seekers that they struggle to find credentials that align with workforce needs and have difficulty keeping pace with rapidly changing technology.

Through the Career Coalition, Nexford will act as a gateway for innovative, progressive companies that want to pre-screen graduate talent to fill roles. We are looking forward to working with all new and future members to boost opportunities for graduate talent across the world.”

The newly launched initiative will add value to Nexford’s already strong employer community particularly in the African continent, where hundreds of employees are already enrolled in the university’s recently launched Nexford for Talent (N4T) program.

Complementing Nexford’s existing employee upskilling offering through the N4T program, as well as The Global Grid mentorship initiative, recently launched and aimed at connecting talent to global remote employment opportunities, the Career Coalition program is another element of Nexford’s approach to rethinking the future of higher education.

Gideon Ataraire, CEO, Allianz for Ghana added:

“Learning, unlearning, and relearning is essential in employee development and that is why we do everything possible to ensure our employees are trained and developed every step of their career journey. Assessing talents, sharpening, and developing skills must be an intentional strategy for every company, hence our resolve to partner with institutions such as Nexford to make such strategic goal possible”

Tobi Lafinhan, Co-Founder, Venture for Africa said:

“Our vision at Venture for Africa is to contribute to the growth of African tech ecosystems by bridging talent gaps and building a strong pipeline of future talent. We are excited to continue to scale our impact with partners like Nexford University that are committed to finding new ways to address the growing talent density challenges in our ecosystem.

“We look forward to forging a stronger connection between high-growth start-ups in Africa and skilled individuals around the world looking for the right opportunity to devote their passion, skills and time.”

The Global Grid is a global mentorship program launched by Nexford University to enable talent across the world to prepare for remote jobs. The program aims to increase awareness around the millions of jobs that are moving online, and the skills learners need to have to qualify for these jobs.

The Global Grid program stems from Nexford’s belief that when equipped with the right education talent should be able to access jobs regardless of location, gender, race or social status.

The program will deep dive into the specific skills employers are looking for and how talent across the world can join this virtual, global grid.

The initiative comprises a diverse pool of thought leaders and industry experts from the healthcare, finance, education, human resources, and insurance sectors – involving publicly available webinars and personal mentoring of select learners who successfully apply to participate.

Nexford has carefully chosen well-known thought leaders in their fields to provide guidance and share business skills via a structured online mentorship program.

In Nigeria, mentors include:

• Dr. Ola Brown, founder of Flying Doctors Healthcare Investment Company – Africa’s leading healthcare and wellness sector investment firm– with previous leadership roles at the British National Health Service;
• Dr. Modupe Adefeso-Olateju, Managing Director of The Education Partnership Centre – Nigeria’s pioneer education partnership organization specializing in research, design, implementation, support and evaluation of education programs and initiatives across various sectors of the economy. Dr Modupe is also an Asia Global Fellow at the University of Hong Kong, and Executive Board Member for Human Capital Africa;
• Yemi Faseun, Chief Talent Officer of YF Talent Partners – HR consulting, leadership, and culture transformation firm. Yemi’s previous experience includes HR leadership positions at multinational telecoms services provider Etisalat, and at Globacom, the fastest growing telecommunication company in sub-Saharan Africa; and
• Gbenga Totoyi, Partner at Alan&Grant – the Lagos-based consultancy firm creating innovative HR & Enterprise solutions – and Group Head of Human Resources of Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc – a Nigerian Stock Exchange listed insurance company.
• Mobola Akingbala– Chief Marketing Officer at Hirefoster – a company that acquires, trains, and connects talented marketing professionals to companies who need their skills worldwide.

Commenting on the Global Grid Initiative, Fadl Al Tarzi, CEO of Nexford University, said:

“Since day one we’ve had the vision that the world is evolving into a virtual grid, where qualified talent should have access to career opportunities regardless of their physical location. COVID-19 has accelerated digital transformation by at least 5-10 years, today’s adoption of online education and remote working are making the virtual grid a reality. If you have connectivity and the right education you will have access to job opportunities regardless of your location.

In Nigeria, Nexford has pioneered programs connecting learners to employers with its successful cooperation with Sterling Bank. With 87% of global employers are facing skills gaps,over the coming decade the majority of global employers will have remote teams. These shifts are going to transform career prospects of learners in Nigeria and across the world. Mentorship through the ‘Global Grid’ initiative is going to help Nexford’s Nigerian learners get on this global grid and prepare them for future careers.”

Jennifer Bangoura, Director of Career Innovation at Nexford University, commented:

“We have been meticulous in selecting suitable mentors and inspiring thought leaders to drive the program and share their leadership experience and knowledge. It is a perfect complement to our existing offering, and we are delighted to announce it as we celebrate our third anniversary.”

The program coincides with the celebration of Nexford’s third anniversary. Co-founded in 2019 by CEO Fadl Al Tarzi, the online university has grown into a global platform connecting learners, regardless of age, gender or social class with global employers.

Nexford has demonstrated commitment to solving the world’s biggest employer challenge – skills – and bridging the gap between learners and employers. The Global Grid initiative complements Nexford’s continued global expansion, and its provision of US degree programs to global learners for social and economic mobility.

The newly launched initiative will add value to Nexford’s already strong community in Nigeria, where the university has been in successful cooperation with Sterling Bank, Nigeria’s largest commercial bank as part of its Nexford for Talent (N4T) program.

As part of the agreement, Sterling Bank underwrites students loans and provides learning scholarships and internships during studies, while in turn benefitting from access to graduates with skills specifically tailored to its corporate needs.

Since the program’s start, 209 of Sterling Bank’s employees have enrolled in Nexford degree programs, with 61 Sterling Bank MBA graduates as of January 2022.

The company’s strong Nigerian presence was recently strengthened by Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, respected former World Bank Vice President and Nigerian Minister of Education, joining Nexford’s board of directors.

The first webinar of the global program taking place on 18^th February will be offered by Filippino mentor Raymond Victorino – an HR Professional with previous leadership roles with Accenture, Samsung Electronics and Jollibee, and well-known speaker and leader in human resources management and employee experience.

Raymon will speak on “Positioning Yourself for the Next Job Promotion”, during which he will offer insightful tips from an HR insider perspective, which can help learners take the lead in developing their professional careers.

Nexford will continue to grow its Global Grid initiative and expand its network of mentors throughout 2022.