• Orange Digital Center partnered with Coursera in April 2024 to offer free digital training to young Africans.

• Mamadou Alpha Baldé secured his first job immediately after earning his cybersecurity certification in August 2025.

• He plans to become a tech entrepreneur and develop his own systems.

Orange Digital Center announced a partnership with Coursera in April 2024 to provide free digital training to young Africans. This initiative aims to accelerate access to high-value technology skills. Mamadou Alpha Baldé, a Guinean student, belongs to the first cohort that secured employment as soon as they completed their certification.

Baldé currently works as a technical sales engineering assistant at the IT firm Hestia SARL in Conakry. He develops software and supports commercial engineering operations. He attributes this position to the strategic diversification of his skills.

He initially trained in mobile and web development at Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry. However, he says his cybersecurity certification, completed in August 2025, opened the door to a more stimulating professional environment due to the scale of the projects involved.

Before earning the certification, Baldé had no professional experience. Seeking to learn and improve his financial prospects, he joined Orange Digital Center while waiting for his bachelor’s degree ceremony scheduled for December 2025. He enrolled in the six-month "Google Cybersecurity Track", created under the April 2024 cooperation agreement between Orange Digital Center and Coursera. He discovered the opportunity on ODC’s Facebook page.

“My learning experience was very enriching. The content was well structured and easy to follow, the Coursera platform was intuitive and pleasant to use. I also appreciated the support and exchanges with the community, which helped me better understand key concepts and deepen my knowledge in cybersecurity,” he told We Are Tech.

During the program, Baldé discovered cloud security and web security, competencies he now applies in all his professional and personal projects. “I personally handle the security of all my servers using the tools studied during the program. If someone enters my system, I receive alerts by email and SMS. That is what I learned in the training.”

Although a partner company introduced him to Hestia SARL, he insists his academic background, certification and completed projects secured the job. “When I came in, I introduced myself, showed my certificates and my projects. They hired me the same day, right after the presentation.”

Baldé says the cybersecurity field fascinates him and motivates him to continue learning. He also expresses a clear long-term ambition: “to become an entrepreneur and create my own systems.”

This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum