Telecom
SAP Initiative ‘Africa Code Week’ Trains Over 500 Teachers in Edo State
Organizers of Africa Code Week (ACW) have said that over one thousand teachers will benefit from information and communications technology (ICT) training in Edo and Enugu States in 2018.
The train the trainer program is part of activities for this year’s 2-week-long ACW in Nigeria and many other African Countries meant to run in every 35 countries from 15 -26 October.
Already, ACW team trained 512 teachers, 26 staff of the ICT Agency of the Edo State government and 32 students from local Universities have been trained in Benin City, next stop is Enugu on 3rd & 4th September where additional 500 teachers are set to be trained.
Launched in 2015 by SAP, in partnership with the Cape Town Science Centre and the Galway Education Centre, Africa Code Week is an initiative that brings together hundreds of schools, teachers, governments, businesses and non-profit organisations with the aim to empower young people across Africa with digital literacy skills.
Working closely with private, public and non-profit partners to drive sustainable learning impact across Africa, the Initiative has benefitted 1.8 million young Africans so far.
Teachers from Edo State receiving training on ICT courtesy SAP initiative called Africa Code Week
Today, it enjoys strong partnerships with the public, private and non-profit sectors are the driving force behind the initiative’s ambitious goals and ability to build community capacity in ICT education across an entire continent.
Africa Code Week is now actively supported by key partners UNESCO YouthMobile, Google, Camden Trust and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), 15 African governments, over 150 partners and 100 ambassadors across the continent.
With a goal to empower 70,000+ teachers and positively impact the lives of 2 million young Africans by 2020, ACW is built to be sustainable and provide long-term impact.
Commenting on the program, Edo State Governor, His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki affirmed that he’s focused on building capacity in the area of education development.
The Governor expressed his appreciation to SAP, Google, UNESCO and other partners for bringing Africa Code Week to Edo States as this will serve as a catalyst for achieving great success in the State’s digital literacy plan.
To underpin the government’s commitment to Africa Code Week, all senior state executives attended the event to provide support and inspiration to the teachers.
These include but not limited to the following: Rt.Hon.Gabriel E. Oiboh Chairman Post primary Education board (PPEB); Miss Yuwa Naps Executive Director, Training and Exams Services, ICT Agency; Mrs. Gladys Idahor Head of Service; Mr. Taiwo Akerele, Chief of Staff; Dr. Adesotu, Commissioner for Science and Technology and Mr. Emmanuel Agbale, Commissioner for Education.
Mr. Olajide Ademola-Ajayi, Nigeria’s Coordinator, Africa Code Week, Speaking on the preparations for 2018 edition, said that annually, SAP arrange Train-the-Teacher sessions (TTTs) that are organized either by the Africa Code Week team or partnering Ministries and non-profit partners in the run-up to October events.
“With 72 students engaged by every trained teacher on average, ACW TTTs are key multiplier and enabler for digital skills to become core pillar of basic education in each participating country. So, we are excited about Edo and Enugu State Governments’ acceptance to work with us and other partners to digitally impact both the teachers and students.
Mr. Ademola-Ajayi said that participants should expect to gain knowledge in creative computing through hands-on, playful learning, that typifies Africa Code Week- the coding enablement program for Africa’s teeming young generation.
participants display their certificates at Edo State training session
Since 2015, Africa Code Week saw over 1.8 million youth introduced to coding skills across 35 countries in 2015, beating yearly initial targets by a huge margin.
Also, over 5,000 free coding workshops have been organized continent-wide and online since day one, ranging from Scratch all the way to Web programming.
In preparation every edition, SAP has deployed its own IT skilled volunteers to train over 25,000 teachers, parents and local volunteers over the past three years, all over Africa.
With average female participation reaching 46.5%, ACW also makes huge strides towards empowering girls in the digital century and fostering gender equality in African ICT education.
With 390,046 youth introduced to coding during ACW 2017 and the highest engagement ratio of 1,622 youth engaged per 100,000 population.
Repairs and revenue losses from damaged cables are estimated to have cost Nigeria’s telecom industry almost N27bn ($23m) in 2023, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg.
MTN Nigeria, the biggest wireless operator in Africa’s most-populous nation, and Airtel Africa Plc bore the brunt of the costs, the documents show.
MTN suffered more than 6,000 cuts on its fiber cable last year, the documents show.
On Feb. 28, a cut in its network in three different locations by a road construction firm, an oil serving company, and someone burning rubbish in a manhole meant customers faced more than five hours of data and voice outages.
The operator relocated 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of vulnerable fiber cables between 2022 and 2023, at a cost of more than N11bn —enough to build 870 kilometers of new fiber lines in areas without coverage.
Broadband fibre optic cables form the backbone of modern communication infrastructure, enabling the high-speed data transmission that underpins a wide range of personal, business, and societal activities.
On several occasions, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the industry regulator, has acknowledged this challenge and expressed willingness to work on measures to address it.
These measures include stricter regulations to deter vandalism and improved collaboration between telcos and government agencies responsible for construction activities.
According to the NCC, the telecom sector will make up more than a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product by the end of 2027, up from 13.5 per cent in the third quarter of last year.
Isa Pantami, former minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has voiced his discontent over the relaunch of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) by Bosun Tijani, his successor.
Isa Pantami, former minister of Communications and Digital Economy,
Tijani announced the revitalization of NCAIR, highlighting enhancements in its capacity and partnerships with global tech firm Cisco.
However, Pantami took to social media to assert that NCAIR was already established during his tenure in November 2020, dubbing it “the first of its kind in Africa” and emphasizing its effectiveness in training numerous Nigerians.
Tijani responded by detailing the new initiatives accompanying the relaunch, including increased computing infrastructure, dedicated research labs, and remote connectivity for AI hubs across the country. He also unveiled outcomes from the Ministry’s National AI Workshop, such as the country’s first Multilingual Large Language Model and partnerships aimed at accelerating AI development projects of national significance.
The exchange between Pantami and Tijani underscores ongoing efforts to advance AI research and application in Nigeria while navigating questions of continuity and leadership transition within the Ministry.
This year’s Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership lecture will focus on the role of artificial intelligence in a digital economy with the theme: “Artificial Intelligence (AI): The Good, The Complex and The Anticipated”.
The lecture which will herald Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Awards hold on May 25, 2024 at Four Points by Sheraton.
The sixteenth edition of the award ceremony according Ken Nwogbo, editor-in-chief of Nigeria CommunicationsWeek the organizers of the event, “is a special edition to recognize and celebrate organizations and individuals in the ICT industry that have been distinguished in delivery innovative services in the sector.
“Most of these organizations and individuals have consistently being voted by our readers as leaders in their areas of operations and we have decided to reward them in this especial edition”.
He added that, AI is considered to have the potential to instigate a fourth industrial revolution,1 and is dramatically changing people’s patterns of interaction and economic activities.
“The traditional factors of production and physical capital and labour may no longer promote substantial economic growth. It is generally believed that AI will be one of the most important factors determining future economic growth.
“However, unlike traditional machines, which replaced the use of human and animal labor for simple manual work and heavy or dangerous activities, AI-related inputs may change the type of human work in a comprehensive way.
“In contrast to previous industrial revolutions, AI does not simply involve the invention of a new machine or technology. Instead, AI has similarities to the accumulation of human capital, as it can learn and accumulate knowledge by itself,” he said.
The Africa’s Beacon of ICT Merit and Leadership Distinguished Lecture is designed to explore efforts to put Nigeria on the global Information and Communications Technologies map.
The lecture series however is reserved for distinguished achievers in the ICT sector.
Past lecturers included Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, then executive vice chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, former Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Dr. Jean Luc Fort, CEO at OR System France and a specialist in Counterparty Risk; and Professor Chris Nwagboso, Chairman, Knowledge Factory International, United Kingdom.
Others are: Uche Orji, managing director/chief executive officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA); Biodu Omoniyi, Managing Director/CEO, VDT Communications; Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, Rack Centre Limited; Peter Adedayo Arogundade, managing director and chief executive officer, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited; Dr. Adewale Obadare, chief visionary officer, Digital Encode and John Obaro, CEO and founder of Systemspecs; Prof. Isa Pantanmi, minister of Communications and Digital Economy; among others.
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