Alibaba GET plan for Africa

CHINESE multinational conglomerate Alibaba said yesterday that its business school in Rwanda had launched its Global E-commerce Talent (GET) programme for university teachers, the first time this has been offered in Africa. The GET programme is part of the commitment that Alibaba executive chairperson Jack Ma made on his first trip to Africa last year to support education and e-commerce on the continent. “GET aims to deepen the understanding of the e-commerce industry among Rwandan university teachers, so that they, in turn, can train individuals to compete in the digital economy,” Alibaba said, adding that 50 lecturers from nine of the country’s top universities attended the week-long programme. GET’s introduction in Rwanda follows the launch of the Jack Ma Foundation’s “Netpreneur” prize for African entrepreneurs working to address the continent’s most pressing challenges, as well as Alibaba Business School eFounders Fellowship. To date, 52 African entrepreneurs from 14 African countries have participated in the fellowship.