Smart Africa Digital Academy avails Ericsson to boost digital transformation

The Smart Africa Secretariat and Ericsson have formed a partnership to support the mission of the Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA), which is to promote digital transformation across Africa through education and capacity development. By utilizing the Ericsson Educate program, the collaboration aims to improve the digital skills of an initial target group of senior officials from ministries and regulatory authorities in charge of Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The program is expected to be expanded in the future to include youth, students, and professionals, particularly educators.

With SADA being an initiative of the Smart Africa Alliance, an alliance of 32 African countries aiming to accelerate sustainable socioeconomic development in Africa, the collaboration will have a far-reaching impact across the continent. It will provide the most up-to-date information to each member state’s public administrations in order to improve their knowledge and competencies around emerging digital technologies, assisting them in developing impactful digital skill development roadmaps and strategies.

The Ericsson Educate program was specifically curated and customized to support SADA’s target audience’s ongoing digital skills development. The Ericsson Educate program will provide various series of live online workshops led by Ericsson technology experts, in addition to the digital skills portal developed by Ericsson, 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 aims to empower African policymakers to create harmonized digital transformation frameworks that will ensure Africa’s prosperity 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.”

Since 2016, Ericsson has been a private sector member of the Smart Africa Alliance, actively contributing to key projects aimed at the continent’s digital development. Ericsson reaffirms its commitment to Africa’s digital inclusion and adoption through this latest collaboration with SADA, which will drive digital transformation and education across the continent.