Changing lives, changing the way we do business: Introducing the Data Distillery at African Bank
Even Sherlock Holmes, way back in the 1800s, knew the value of data science. He believed “it is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data”. Today, data science is helping businesses in all sectors to focus their resources, make smarter decisions and improve performance.
African Bank has taken the trend a step further with the establishment of a “Data Distillery” for young graduates who are given the opportunity to be permanently employed by the Bank as data science trainees.
Driving the programme is the Bank’s Human Capital Business Partner for Corporate Services, Zandile Adelaide Nkosi. The initiative is aimed at expanding data science skills in line with African Bank’s strategy.
Nkosi said the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on unemployment among the youth is staggering.
“Lockdown, however, provided South Africa with the unique opportunity to speed up our digital economy. Many initiatives we have seen lately, like the African Bank Data Distillery, have been established with exactly this in mind.”
Data Distillery is a year-long programme. The success of the programme is thanks to a partnership with CapaCITI (project managers), who in turn partnered with Explore Data Science Academy (responsible for executing the technical training).
Explore launched the programme with the aim of addressing the shortage of data scientists across South Africa by offering a 12-month data science programme to students between the ages of 17 and 35, regardless of their qualifications, socio-economic status or financial means.
In the first eight months, interns are taught data science tools, techniques and algorithms. In the next four months, they work with real data from African Bank to solve real-life problems for us, under the supervision of Explore. At the end of the course, the top graduates receive certificates and are absorbed into the Bank as permanent data science trainees.
The top objectives of the Data Distillery:
- For the selected top candidates to gain life skills.
- To equip individuals with work-readiness skills.
- To teach students all about African Bank and its values and culture.
- To acquire the technical theory associated with scarce data science skills.
“The establishment of the Data Distillery created a stir in African Bank, to the point that even a few employees opted to sacrifice their permanent positions for the opportunity to be part of this exciting journey for a year,” Nkosi said.
“The African Bank Data Distillery programme not only offers graduates the chance to be part of a team delivering world-class customer service through data science, but it also offers job security, continuous learning, mentorship opportunities and a clear career path which pays well.”
Nine of the 29 students currently on the programme are already permanently employed at African Bank.
They are all young graduates, some from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, aged between 25 and 35. Their educational backgrounds include data science, computer science, econometrics and statistics, or similar subjects. Nkosi says 75% of the interns are male and 25% female.
They have their work cut out for them, Nkosi says. “There are five opportunity statements which the data science team is expected to deliver on for African Bank between August and March next year. These include optimising call centre processes, fraud prevention and voice analytics.”
She is extremely proud of the success of the Data Distillery to date and admits it has also been an incredible learning path.
“Failure was not an option as there was a lot at stake in ensuring this project was delivered successfully. I have learned so much about the importance of data and how it can be used to make critical business decisions. As they say, every day is a school day – and I have loved every minute of being back in the classroom!”
One of the programme’s young data scientist’s points out that lockdown, despite creating a lot of anxiety, has also given people a lot of free time – time the youth can use to improve their skills by taking advantage of online connectedness.
Nkosi agrees to say, “The youth should not lose hope in this difficult time. They should, instead, embrace technology and the many opportunities on the internet for aspiring entrepreneurs. The digital economy is alive and well as a platform for young South Africans to build a better future for themselves.”
SIDEBAR: Young Data Scientist Riaan Swanepoel
A graduate’s journey with African Bank: Riaan Swanepoel (data scientist on the Data Distillery programme):
“My journey with the African Bank Data Distillery started with my application to the Explore Data Science Academy. Shortly after my application, I received an invitation to an interview at the African Bank Data Distillery. Little did I know this interview would be the first step in my journey towards becoming a data scientist.
“While the academy was responsible for the traditional training we received, the Data Distillery provided the support which helped us make a success of our training.
“This included both financial support, which allowed me to start saving for a future with my (now) wife, as well as personal and emotional support.
“Towards the end of our training at the academy, the Data Distillery became more involved in our internship projects where they provided us with some real-world examples of problems in the retail banking sector, which was our first taste of how we could use our training to make a meaningful impact on the lives of their customers.
“During our first six months working for African Bank at the Data Distillery, I realised how much potential there is in using data to solve a wide variety of problems.
“While my journey with the African Bank Data Distillery has only just started, it has already provided me with the opportunity to enter an exciting and challenging career path which allows me the endless potential to grow as a data scientist and as an individual.”