Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
Two technology giants, Intel Corporation and a pan-African network organisation, AfriLab, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Abuja to empower African leaders on emerging technologies.
The Director, Government Affairs in Africa, Intel Corporation, Dr. Bienvenu Soglo, and an Executive Director in AfriLab, Anna Ekeledo, signed the document on behalf of their organisations.
The partnership, according to Soglo,would prepare African leaders for technologies such as AI, Cloud, 5G connectivity and Intelligent edge such as IOT and cyber security to drive informed policy making.
Soglo said the partnership would develop a framework that would create awareness and understanding of latest technologies among all categories of African citizens.
He said the partnership had perfected a programme of activities that would boost manpower development among students in various schools to acquire technological techniques and skills.
He said: “The AI for future workforce will empower the future workforce from technical/vocational schools with necessary AI skills for employability in the digital economy.
“The AI for current workforce is to upskill and re-skill members of the current workforce such as the small and medium scale enterprises for immediate work impact.”
In her comments, Ekeledo enumerated the roles that AfriLab had played in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in Africa.
She said the hubs provided by the firm, had provided a conducive, creative and collaborative environment for innovators, entrepreneurs, developers and startups to build innovative solutions that could solve every day problems across various sectors.
She said: “They (hubs) also provide the necessary support needed to build successful tech-driven businesses that create jobs and contribute to the social and economic development of the continent.
“AfriLab and Intel partnership will provide African deep-tech startups access to a global wealth of startup support, training, consulting and resources to grow participants’ businesses to successful million and billion-dollar businesses while solving real societal challenges.”
