Benin now has a public school for digital professions. The official inauguration ceremony of this high place of knowledge as well as the commissioning of its technical platform was carried out by the Minister of State Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, last Monday, October 3rd in Cotonou. It was in the presence of several members of the Beninese government, the Ambassador of France to Benin, several partners and stakeholders in the sector.
To support the deployment and maintenance of high-speed networks as well as the development of digital uses in the economy, the government of Benin has launched an original project to create a School of Digital Professions. Aimed to serve as a reference in West Africa, the school will meet the training needs to provide companies with proven skills in the digital field. “The fiber network, the data center and the e-services that the government is developing will only make sense if they can be developed by qualified internal skills,” said Mr. Mathias AFFOMAÏ, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the school.
Thus, for Aurelie Adam Soulé Zoumarou, Minister of Digital and Digitalization, beyond training, the ambition around the school of digital professions is to provide jobs. It is therefore a place of knowledge that offers short professionalizing practical training courses by adapting to technological developments to meet the new needs of the job market. “The Government of Benin has taken the option and the bet to make our country, a country that counts in digital. In this journey towards this goal, technical training and skills development have a place of choice. This school that we are inaugurating is all that you see, but it is much more than that.
As for Abdoulaye Bio Tchané, Minister of State who presided over the launching, the creation of this school is the fruit of reforms, investments and partnerships: “Fruit of reforms because this school reflects the government’s policy in the field of vocational training. It is the result of investments because it has mobilized nearly 530 million CFA francs in funding. Finally, it is the fruit of a partnership between the French Government and the Government of Benin on the one hand, and between SOFRECOM and our country on the other.
That is why he took the opportunity to thank all the partners and actors involved for the success of the establishment of this institute. Il a par ailleurs, invité les futurs usagers à prendre grand soin de l’école afin que sa réputation dépasse les frontières du Bénin et en faire une véritable école des Métiers du Numérique, une école Africaine.
Through the creation of this school, the government of Benin has just taken another giant step in its desire to become a platform for digital services in the sub-region. Especially when we know that now everywhere in this country once called “Latin Quarter” of Africa, citizens have access to over 250 online services. Its services cover several sectors and sub-sectors such as land and property, transport, trade, port operations, civil status and citizenship, immigration and emigration, finance, education, taxation, public and private investment, justice, civil service and agriculture.
