Reflections on the iHub Africa 2025 intake process

Each year we open applications for the incoming iHub Africa cohort. It’s both an exciting yet intense season of trying to get the message to the right people followed by a rigourous review of applications to ensure the right young people end up in the room. Since 2019, we’ve witnessed the number of applicants climb, which comes as no surprise given the extent of youth unemployment in South Africa. Each year we are fortunate to read applications from incredible, eager and hopeful young people looking to upskill and expand their horizons. And each year we are reminded, that potential is widespread, opportunity is not.

The Process

1. The Application:

Each year, over a period of 6-12 weeks, youth aged 20-30 are invited to apply online, for the opportunity to complete the iHub Africa Digital Marketing program in the following year. The application process is a 3-step application that aims to collect basic demographic information, explore the aspirations and motivations of applicants, and lastly give applicants an overview of digital marketing by requiring them to complete a free online digital marketing short course. Our team then reviews applications to shortlist applicants who will move on to the Bootcamp stage of the intake process.

2. Bootcamp

Bootcamp is a 5-day, in-person week where we get to meet applicants, give them a taste of the iHub Africa experience and evalute them on skills such as english proficiency, digital literacy, interpersonal skills and some baseline psychometrics. These help us determine applicants’ likelihood to adapt to the steep learning curve and meet the training demands, as well as their likelihood to complete the program. While the program is provided for free to students, it costs us R98 000 per student to provide the training. As a donor-funded entity, it is important that we select students who will most benefit from the program. This high cost also has implications for the number of students we can admit each year. If it were up to us, we’d admit many more, but sadly we don’t yet have the likes of Elon Musk or Bill Gates bankrolling our operations. As such, we take the immensely difficult task of selecting the right candidates very seriously with the full understanding of the impact each decision has on the life of a South African young person. Each year we meet incredble young people with great potential, big dreams and inspiring ideas. We’ve also seen interesting developments in the composition of the applicant pool with more and more youth who already have degrees and experience keen to complete the program. This reflects the extent of the unemployment challenge in South Africa and the need for accessible opportunities for disadvantaged youth.

The journey continues

We’re about halfway through our intake process with the second group of Bootcampers in the room. The energy is infectious and there’s a moving sense of poetry having both our current 2024 cohort students alongside prospective students in the room. If this room is anything to go by, there is indeed hope for the future of South Africa. With two weeks to go, we’re getting closer to finalizing the 2025 class from our pool of candidates. It is exciting times. But we also hear the plea of those who did not make the cut. Many have questions and we see a growing sense of disappointment. We get it and we hear you. A contributing factor to the increase in discouraged work seekers each year, is the lack of response from employers and recruiters to applications, and the lack of detail in the reason for rejection. We are attempting to be different. While we can’t provide detailed responses to the 3700 applications we received, we hope this article and video give insight into the iHub Africa intake process and selection criteria.