The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Business Sweden and Ericsson have teamed up in a two-year venture in sub-Saharan Africa in a programme to strengthen the African ICT sector.
The programme will involve high level delegations from Sweden from sectors such as trade, energy, infrastructure and ICT visiting countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe.
It aims to increase collaboration and trade between key countries in the continent and Sweden, with 10 countries in Africa benefitting from workshops and seminars.
Sweden says it will be looking at strengthening Africa’s ICT potential so that in can play a similar role to the one it plays in the Swedish economy, with the ICT industry a major source of employment. The country is the highest ranked globally in terms of connectivity, e-governance and ICT innovations.
According to senior vice president of trade at Business Sweden Andreas Skinnars, the partnership will help showcase Sweden’s competence in ICT and support the industry in Africa./p>
“We are very happy to enter this partnership together with the Foreign Ministry and Ericsson,” he said. “Through this programme we wish to contribute to establishing and showcasing Swedish competence and leading ICT companies to partner up with African companies to support the African growth further. We believe this will be of great benefit for both Sweden and sub-Saharan Africa”.
Ericsson says the programme resonates with its vision of a networked Africa where ICT plays a key role in society and business.
“We are committed to our vision of a Networked Society in Africa, where technology enables new methods of learning and collaborating, innovative ways of doing business, and new approaches to old problems which results in a better quality of life,” said Fredrik Jejdling, head of Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Over the past century, Ericsson has consistently explored ways in which we can deploy our technology and solutions to support development on the continent.”
The programme starts on April 17 in Ghana, ending in May 9 in Angola.
