The Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) and Benin’s Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitalization have set up a national digital academy to improve digital skills across Africa. SADA is now available in Benin after being released in Rwanda, Ghana, and the Republic of the Congo. The development and implementation of this project across the continent are taking place against the backdrop of a huge digital skills gap in a digital environment that is constantly changing.
According to Mr Lacina Koné, the Director General and CEO of Smart Africa, SADA is a direct answer to the shortage of digital skills that Benin and Africa as a whole are facing. As one of the most active members of the Smart Africa alliance, we are excited to put SADA into place in Benin and improve the country’s digital skills by working closely with our partners.
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The SADA project in Benin will be a key part of the country’s plan for the digital sector. This plan wants to make Benin the hub for digital services in West Africa by using tools like people with the right skills. SADA Benin will include various programs, including teacher training, executive training, and advanced ICT training, using a training of trainers methodology. 40 master trainers will receive training in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity as part of the SADA Benin framework during the same week as the SADA debut. They will also train additional local trainers for the initiative’s expansion.
The Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalization, the Honorable Aurélie Adam Soulé, said, “SADA is a tool, a platform, that will allow us to take new initiatives, strengthen the initiatives that the Republic of Benin has already taken as part of its action program, and open up new areas of cooperation and capacity building.” For me, signing this MoU is a crucial step toward scaling up.
SADA is a dynamic pan-African learning ecosystem that aims to improve digital skills and qualifications, make people more employable, and meet the growing demand for talent on the continent. The national digital academy will help meet the national priority needs for digital skills. Sierra Leone, Djibouti, Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo will soon have national digital academies like this.
In order for African youth, entrepreneurs, and people, in general, to succeed in the global technology ecosystem, SADA is also launching two new programs. The SADA for Youth and Entrepreneurs will help African youth improve at digital technology, reduce unemployment, and improve their ability to be digital entrepreneurs. The SADA for Digital Literacy will help all Africans get better at digital technology and become digitally literate.
SADA has trained about 3,000 policy and decision-makers in 26 countries since it began operating in August 2020, focusing on the Capacity Building for Decision Makers (CBDM) and the National Digital Academy modules in topics such as Artificial Intelligence Use Cases, Digital Economy, 5G Connectivity, Data Protection & Privacy, Rural Broadband Policies, Security Technologies, Regulatory and Innovation. By 2023, the goal is to have more than 22,000 beneficiaries with training, with help from the SADA In-country implementation wave.