Smart global connectivity and field services solutions provider, SmartCIC partnered with Maxim Nyansa Foundation, an NGO raising funds and mobilizing volunteers to train underprivileged young Africans,  at the end of 2023 with a vision to empower women in developing African countries in order to gain high – value IT skills and certifications.
The initiative looks to target women in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone and already have between 16 – 18 enrolled candidates at each one of the residential training centres.  targeting women in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Gambia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone and providing them with opportunities to gain high-value IT skills and certifications.
Together with the Maxim Nyansa Foundation, SmartCIC uses the established NGO’s network in Africa to host training bootcamps with its seasoned IT engineers and technical teams to facilitate training, provide second-hand IT hardware equipment for hands-on training, and soon looks to provide microfinancing to aid women-led African IT businesses.
Catherine Hemingray Sales Director and Co-Founder of SmartCIC shares that they feel strongly that it is a moral and social obligation for them to give back to the community and that it is something that she is personally very passionate about. She shared with ITNews Africa that generically companies usually penetrate Africa without giving anything back to the people.
She says, “The partnership we have with Maxim Nyansa Foundation, is a form of social governance that myself and co-founder Toby Foreman have always been compelled to want to put into place. With our expansion of IT services into Africa we felt a social and moral obligation to be giving something back.
“There is a huge opportunity for companies now to go and help develop the technology in Africa. But we both feel that it should be quantified alongside giving something back at the same time and helping develop areas of the continent that are lacking in resources.”
Currently there are plans to establish more than 700 data centres in Africa, presenting a significant opportunity for IT companies and services to penetrate the continent and help develop its digital footprint.
Alongside the companies efforts in providing high-value training and resources for this initiative it has also found an effective way to repurpose hardware in way that adds value to the community and bolsters economic activity.
According to the World Health Organisation, e-waste is the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world. In 2019, an estimated 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste were produced globally, but only 17.4% was documented as formally collected and recycled. IT companies across the globe are looking for better ways to disperse of e-waste to remain compliant with environmental objectives.
SmartCIC is donating its used IT equipment to Maxim Nyansa for use in their training programs and requesting that their carrier partners contribute any unwanted hardware.
SmartCIC is open to having conversations with IT specialists and companies about the initiative and look forward towards making a significant contribution towards the growing African digital economy.