Building on the general-purpose e-learning platform -Atingi- that it launched in November 2020, Smart Africa has announced the launch of a new platform dedicated to technology and digital literacy.

On the sidelines of its 5th ICT Ministers’ Council held last February 25 in Kintélé, in the Republic of Congo, the Smart Africa Alliance announced the launch of its academy designed to improve the digital skills of Africans. The Smart Africa Digital Academy (SADA) offers free online courses accessible on https://sada.atingi.org/.

SADA's courses are focused on seven areas: digital skills and transformation, management and leadership, agriculture, career guidance, entrepreneurship, health, and governance and decentralization. Currently, three courses are already available on the platform. These are "Economic Foundations of Regulation" developed by Laurent Gille, economist, professor emeritus of Télécom Paris; "ICT Infrastructure" developed by UNESCO, Cetic.br/NIC.br and the SDG Academy; and "Dimensions and Causes of the Digital Divide" developed by GIZ and Atingi.

Smart Africa has also scheduled a webinar for September 22 to discuss the "Agile Regulation for Digital Transformation" in Africa. The workshop will feature Patrick Njoroge, the head of the Central Bank of Kenya, Anna Pietikainen, senior policy advisor at the OECD, Edmund Fianko, the deputy head of the National Communications Authority of Ghana, and Roslyn Docktor, director of government and regulatory affairs at IBM Corporation. 

"The Smart Africa Digital Academy – SADA for short – provides the courses, webinars, and opportunities for exchange to policymakers and regulators to promote digital transformation in Africa.  With its various learning programs and formats, SADA wants to improve participants’ skills for drafting inclusive, gender-sensitive, and climate-smart ICT regulations,” according to the information available on the Atingi platform.

“SADA also reaches a wider audience from entrepreneurs to engaged citizens to improve their digital literacy, so that they can fully benefit from the new potentials offered by digital technologies.”

SADA’s access platform is fully responsive and adapts to a variety of screen sizes, including desktop, tablet, and mobile. Training courses are available in English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Mandarin, and Portuguese. Courses are downloadable.

Muriel Edjo