USIU-Africa has signed a deal with Odoo Kenya that gives students free, hands-on access to the software companies actually run on — and opened a dedicated room for it on campus.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Monday, 9 November, and the Odoocate Room was launched the same day.

Odoo is a suite of open-source business apps: customer relations, e-commerce, accounting, inventory, point of sale and project management. Its education programme gives university students free access to the tools so they learn how the software works in practice before they graduate.

Ummekulsum Bohari, Education Officer at Odoo Kenya, said the gap the programme closes is simple: students hear software mentioned in class and never touch it. "Our goal with the program is to transform the lives of business owners, and if our students, who are you guys sitting here, are learning about our tools and technology, then you can teach the community," she said.

Purity Gichure, Head of Customer Success at Odoo Kenya and a USIU-Africa alumna, said she got her first job through the university's Placement and Career Services initiatives, and that the Odoo programme fills the gap classroom lessons leave behind.

More than 400 USIU-Africa students have already taken part in visits to Odoo Kenya, Prof Quin Awuor, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Student Life, said — turning the visits into one of the most anticipated sessions in the careers calendar. "So today, this MOU actually turns that goodwill into structured long-term partnerships, and we are very, very excited," she said.

Prof Jeremiah Koshal, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academics, put it bluntly: teaching without connecting students to industry achieves only 20% of the job. "And I think that is what this program has done. It actually enabled us to go the long haul," he said.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Mwenda Ntarangwi, speaking at the unveiling of the room, said the value of a USIU-Africa education is the international experience it offers, and called Odoo's move into Africa a gateway for students.