Ace Technology Group


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Ace Technology Group

Ace Technology Group

IT education in Africa: Discussion focusing on South Africa

As we discussed last week, the IT industry in Africa is still in its infancy. South Africa and Kenya, which have comparatively better infrastructure and educated talent pools, have seen a raise in outsourced IT projects coming to their countries. They have also attracted foreign investment and joint ventures in developing the industry. But in other African countries, IT industry is still far from reaching its true potential.

In South Africa, the rise in IT-based businesses is largely due to increased investment in IT education and training. The University of Pretoria's Computer Science department, established in 1977, is leading the way in research and development in the region. With the total number of students exceeding 1300 and major emphasis in research-based education, students graduating from the university are providing significant contributions towards the development of the IT industry.

Like other developing regions, Africa is facing the problem of brain drain, where talented and trained people leave the region to work in developed countries in the West or in the USA. South Africa is not untouched by this, but there is a positive side to this too. South African IT graduates who leave the country to work in US or Europe are able to present a different picture of Africa, different from the usual land of safaris or exotic wildlife. This aides in attracting foreign investment to IT-based business. Indian engineers working in Silicon Valley in the early nineties were able to do the same for the Indian IT industry.