The Two day conference in New Delhi
The two-day conference was designed in India to boost economic opportunity and international partnership with Africa through education. The event took place in New Delhi which was attended by African leaders, coordinated by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The event saw the presence of education ministry staff from Ghana and South Africa. Both the nation discussed future opportunities for training with India.
Africa is the second most populous and the world’s second-largest continent. Having a history of over 100 years, Africa is a very diverse continent and has over 50 nations in the continent. Other nations from Africa signing memorandums of understanding on furthering educational partnerships which include nations like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malawi.
Preparing workforce of developing nation for the future challenges
E.R.Tirumurti, The Secretary for India’s Ministry of External Affairs while delivering the keynote address emphasized on the need for south-south cooperation in preparing the workforces of developing nations for the challenges of the future, and the demand for digital skill development for Indians and Africans. Further, he said, “World population has grown significantly and the number of young people, especially in India and Africa, is higher than ever before. Youth demand appropriate and quality education and better employment to compete and aim higher.”
During the five-year planning window, African students who come to study in India will benefit for the training. Nearly 80 percent of the 50,000 slots for such training has been registered for such a training program. Tirumurti said, “India has also undertaken the establishment of institutions and training centers which are scattered across the African continent.”
Establishing IT and Technology centers in the Africa
In the last four years, six IT centers have been established, including facilities in Lesotho and Morocco. The technology centers have been set up in Zimbabwe and Madagascar. The Gambia and Rwanda are among the seven nations where vocational training centers were built.
Tirumurti said, “We have had a Somalian student in India, who later came back here as the Somalian ambassador to India and served her country with great distinction.” Further, he added, “Google, Microsoft, MasterCard, Pepsi, Adobe and major Fortune 500 corporations have or have had Indians heading them, and I see no reason why we should not see more such leaders from Africa emerge soon.”
