The Smart Africa Secretariat and Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) have entered a collaboration that will support Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA)’s mission of promoting digital transformation across Africa through education and capacity development. The collaboration is aimed at enhancing digital skills of an initial target group of senior officials from ministries and regulatory authorities, in charge of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by availing of the Ericsson Educate program. The program is expected to later extend to the youth, students, and professionals, particularly educators.
With SADA being an initiative of the Smart Africa Alliance, an alliance spanning 32 African countries that aims to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development in Africa, the collaboration will have a far-reaching impact across the continent. It will equip the public administrations of each member state with the latest information to enhance their knowledge and competencies around emerging digital technologies which will support them in establishing impactful digital skill development roadmaps and strategies.
The Ericsson Educate program has especially been curated and customized to support the ongoing digital skills development of SADA’s target audience. With rich content on 21st-century technologies such as 5G networks, Internet of Things (IoT), Automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML), the Ericsson Educate program will provide in addition to the digital skills portal developed by Ericsson, various series of live online workshops led by technology experts from Ericsson. The objective of the Ericsson Educate program is to empower the continent’s policymakers to develop harmonized digital transformation frameworks that will ensure a prosperous future for Africa in the digital age.
Lacina Koné, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Smart Africa commented: “We are committed to bridging digital skill gaps across Africa to ensure the inclusive digital development of the continent. We are confident that the Ericsson Educate program will support us in accelerating our mission and nurturing an ecosystem of ICT specialized training that will increase digital proficiency across our member states. Through the program, we look forward to empowering policy and decision-makers with adequate knowledge of the latest digital technologies to make informed decisions that propel the continent in the digital era.”
Erik Ekudden, Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, and Head of Strategy at Ericsson says, “We strongly believe that mobile technologies have the potential to level the global playing field and contribute to the long-term and sustainable economic development of Africa. Collaborating with SADA to enhance the digital competencies of policy and decision makers in each member state, we aspire to empower the development of a well-planned ICT policy and regulatory environment that increases Africa’s competitiveness in the global economy.”
Ericsson has been a private sector member of the Smart Africa Alliance since 2016, actively contributing to key projects aimed at the digital development of the continent. Through this latest collaboration with SADA, Ericsson reaffirms its commitment to Africa’s digital inclusion and adoption to drive digital transformation and education across the continent.
