In many African countries, providing access to learning content and lifelong learning opportunities remains a challenge. Large parts of the population cannot benefit from existing educational offers due to geographical remoteness and a lack of financial resources.
Marginalized groups such as girls and women as well as populations living in rural areas are particularly affected by restrained access to education. As a result, they often lack the required competences for finding employment in local labour markets.
Atingi is a digital learning platform developed within the framework of the Global Project “Africa Cloud”, implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
atingi is now available in 54 countries across Africa. The platform delivers access to best-in-class learning content for Africa’s citizens, transforming lives with training that improves their job prospects and supports entrepreneurial activities.
Moreover, atingi aims to ensure that all members of society can gain the skills necessary to unleash the power of digital transformation – and it has partnered with leading international organisations like the World Bank and Smart Africa, with its 30 member countries to do this.
Commenting on the atingi platform, German Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Gerd Müller said
“Digitalisation can help Africa make enormous strides in its development. This new platform offers eLearning opportunities to young people in remote and rural areas. We must harness the full potential of modern technology to create new opportunities for young Africans to enter training, the agricultural sector, medicine or the tech business.”
One of the many changes that have been brought about by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has been the strong growth of eLearning, particularly in Africa.
In fact, according to a report by Global Market Insights, the African e-learning sector is expected to reach a market value of US$1.8bn by 2024. The atingi learning content is developed in cooperation with specialised local African partners and carefully considers local needs and market.
Michael Krake, the Deputy Director said;
“One of the focus areas of atingi is vocational education, as we know that this will help Africans create and optimise employment opportunities at home (…). We decided to put our learnings to work through contextually relevant content, via state-of-the-art digital learning methods, that anyone with an internet connection can easily access at no cost to them.”
The platform is available for use by people throughout Africa and the content on the platform in both English and French. It is optimized for use on any internet-enabled device, providing learners with flexible learning options to suit their learning styles.
In addition to the current self-study learning programmes, in the future, atingi says it aims to add courses that will be supported by tutors, and even hybrid courses that will combine real-life elements with online sessions.
