Sanusi backs IBM’s digital nation Africa scheme

The Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi has expressed support for IBM’s Digital Nation Africa Scheme, which is aimed at boosting online education on the continent.

The Emir received IBM’s team in his palace. Led by Dipo Faulkner, Country General Manager for IBM Nigeria, the team was in Kano to hold meetings with key public and private sector stakeholders in the education and technology space.

Kano is one of the pilot states for IBM Nigeria’s national DNA rollout. Faulkner explained to the Emir that human capital development is at the core of the D-NA initiative, a scheme which provides free cloud-based learning and collaboration tools and platforms aimed at providing Africa’s millennials with on-line courses on mobile apps development, artificial intelligence and other in-demand technology skills.

Emir Sanusi was deeply enthused by the D-NA vision. Beyond giving his royal blessing to the work of the IBM team, he also offered IBM his counsel and strategic insights on how STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education and “new collar” training could be better deployed to unlock the latent intellectual fecundity of the nation’s teeming youths.

Also on the IBM train to Kano were Timothy Peck, a Kadunaborn, British citizen and program manager for the D-NA scheme in the Middle East & Africa Region (MEA); UzoNwani, Global Markets Client Executive for West Africa; MayowaAdeoti, University Relations Leader for Central & West Africa; and Saleh Maitala, Channel Eco-System Leader, Central and West Africa.