Smart Africa opens digital academy in Ivory Coast to boost digital and cyber security skills

The Smart Africa Alliance has opened its latest base for the Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) as it continues to expand its footprint in Africa, with Côte d’Ivoire being the latest country to benefit from the digital skills development initiative.

The latest SADA has been launched in partnership with the Ivorian Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy. The initiative will help nurture the country’s nascent digital sector through the provision of digital skills.

Discussing the launch, Lacina Koné, the Director General and CEO of Smart Africa, commented: “There’s increasing recognition, among nations, of the role of digital technologies in transforming the socio-economic situation and the determination to adopt them is palpable. Through initiatives like SADA, the Smart Africa Alliance is committed to supporting national efforts to close the digital skills gap. We are pleased to bring SADA to life in Côte d’Ivoire, an important country of the alliance.”

In addition to SADA, the Agile Regulation for Digital Transformation Program (AReg4DT) was also launched in collaboration with the World Bank and GIZ.

The launch of SADA in Côte d’Ivoire also sees the implementation of various capacity-building programs on Big Data & IoT, training of teachers, executive trainings, advanced ICT trainings, among others. Moreover, Côte d’Ivoire is set to host the first cybersecurity Innovation Centers for youth. Currently, Côte d’Ivoire leads Smart Africa’s cybersecurity flagship.

Speaking on the launch of SADA, the Ivorian Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Amadou Coulibaly commented: “SADA-Côte d’Ivoire will be one of the key vehicles for the operationalization of the “awareness and training” projects of the 4th pillar of the National Digital Strategy to 2025, which has the specific objective to develop and promote digital skills.”

As a pan-African dynamic learning ecosystem, SADA aims to improve digital skills qualifications, and employability, and meet the emerging talent needs of African citizens. The national digital academy will support the uniquely identified digital skills priority needs at the national level. Furthermore, such national digital academies will soon be rolled out in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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