The Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA), the capacity-building arm of Smart Africa, has begun a digital skills development programme in Côte d’Ivoire. This is part of Smart Africa’s ongoing initiatives to provide digital skills throughout Africa.
The programme in Côte d’Ivoire was started with the help of the country’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy. It will help the West African country’s digital economy grow by giving people the necessary skills.
At the launch event, Lacina Koné, the director general and CEO of Smart Africa stated that there is growing recognition among nations of the role of digital technologies in transforming socio-economic situations and the determination to adopt them. “Countries are becoming more aware of how digital technologies can change their social and economic situations, and the desire to use them is palpable,” she said.
“The Smart Africa Alliance is committed to supporting national efforts to bridge the digital skills gap, and one way it plans to do this is through projects such as SADA. We are delighted to see SADA take shape in Côte d’Ivoire, an essential alliance member. He explained.
SADA’s mission as a pan-African learning ecosystem is to enhance digital skills, qualifications and employability and address the growing demand for talent among African citizens.
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The introduction of SADA in Côte d’Ivoire comes after previous introductions in Benin, Rwanda, Ghana, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo Brazzaville). The countries of Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are also on the agenda for the establishment of new academies very soon.
As part of putting SADA into place in Côte d’Ivoire, several capacity-building projects related to big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) will be carried out, as well as teacher training, executive training, and advanced ICT training.
In addition, the country in West Africa is getting ready to house the very first youth innovation centres for cybersecurity. Currently, Côte d’Ivoire serves as the showcase for Smart Africa’s cybersecurity efforts.
Smart Africa is Creating skills for Africans
SADA’s mission is to teach digital skills to aspiring African businesspeople and young people to boost the continent’s youth’s capacity for digital entrepreneurship, reduce youth unemployment, and increase digital technology competence. By the end of the year, it is anticipated that this programme will have an effect on a total of 500 young people.
SADA has educated over 2,000 policy decision-makers from 26 different countries since the organisation’s operations began in August 2020.
Use cases for artificial intelligence, 5G connectivity, data protection and privacy, rural broadband policies, security technologies, data centres and the cloud, and electronic payments are some of the subjects that pertain to digital transformation. Up to and including 2023, the target is to have more than 22,000 trained beneficiaries.
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About Smart Africa
Since it started in 2013, when seven African heads of state started, Smart Africa has grown to include 32 member countries with a total population of more than 815 million people, as well as more than 40 business members who are all committed to moving Africa’s digital agenda forward.
