On the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress Africa, taking place in Kigali, the Smart Africa alliance and Orange Middle East and Africa have signed a three-year agreement aimed to support the development of African continent’s digitalization through advocacy, knowledge sharing and assess government digital maturity to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation and the creation of sustainable jobs for Africans.
Orange and Smart Africa are two major institutions, one recognized for its commitment towards digital inclusion and its knowledge in the innovation field, and the other one, empowered by a bold and innovative commitment by African Heads of State to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development on the continent.
Both organizations will collaborate in activities such as training for the youth and women to support their employability in new digital professions. This will be done through their digital skills development programs namely Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) and the Orange Digital Center (ODC) network, present in 16 countries in Africa and the Middle East and 6 European countries.
They will also work together in enhancing innovative entrepreneurship by strengthening incubation, acceleration, and financing capacities for entrepreneurs in priority sectors such as: environment, e-agriculture, e-health, e-commerce, etc.
Both the Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) and the Orange Digital Center (ODC) are dedicated to offering digital skills training to diverse audiences.
Orange Digital Center (ODC) brings together in a same physical structure a set of free programs open to all, ranging from digital training for young people and support for entrepreneurship to acceleration and investment in startups.
Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) is the driving vehicle for implementing Smart Africa’s digital skills initiatives, aiming to empower African citizens to embrace digital transformation and equip them to innovate and compete on a global scale.
Through their programs, the two organizations will work together to encourage the creation of innovative digital solutions to respond to local challenges and thus contribute to the sustainable development of the continent.
Commenting on this agreement, Lacina Koné, CEO of Smart Africa, stated: “Empowering African citizens, young people especially, to equip them for the jobs of the future has been key to our digital transformation efforts. Joining efforts with Orange will expedite our collective efforts in this regard.”
Jérôme Hénique, CEO of Orange Middle East and Africa, added: “This partnership will contribute to the objective shared between Smart Africa and Orange namely to develop the digital skills of the African youth, especially women, while supporting innovative entrepreneurship. This is part of our commitment to actively contribute to the digital transformation of the continent.”