His journey proves that mastering new technical skills can transform a professional's position within an organization. He also demonstrates how strategic data utilization impacts corporate decisions and creates new leadership opportunities.

Thierno Hamidou Sow is a programmer analyst at E-CASH Guinea, a company specializing in digital development. A graduate with a bachelor's degree in software engineering obtained in 2024 from the Kofi Annan University of Guinea, he designs and maintains digital tools for his company and regularly uses datasets in his projects.

While browsing Facebook, he discovered an advertisement from the Orange Digital Center for a data analysis training program offered in partnership with the Coursera platform. This program, resulting from a collaboration announced in April 2024, caught his attention. He enrolled, began the courses on July 1, 2025, and obtained his certification on September 1.

"Before the training, I used data in my projects, but I didn't have a clear idea of how to use it optimally. The training allowed me to understand how to transform raw data into usable information, so that businesses can make fact-based decisions. I acquired the concrete skills I was looking for," he explained in an interview with We Are Tech Africa.

Upon completing the course, he said he gained a practical understanding of the processes for converting raw data into relevant information for business teams. "The certification allowed me to go beyond simple IT development. I now analyze the data generated by applications to propose fact-based solutions, better respond to market needs, and bring more value to the company," he added.

After obtaining the certification, he presented it to his management and explained the value of data analysis for the company's activities. Convinced of the usefulness of these skills, management entrusted him with his first project involving marketing data to help guide management decisions.

The results obtained were considered significant by the company, which sees this as a way to improve its analysis of the market and its performance. In recognition of this work, Thierno Hamidou Sow, then a developer, was promoted to programmer analyst, a role that combines software development and data analysis to meet operational needs.

For the future, he plans to "continue deepening my skills in data science and artificial intelligence, to better combine development and data analysis."

Melchior Koba