Africa-Press – Lesotho. From September 17 to 21, Russia’s Veliky Novgorod hosted the Second International High-Tech Championship. The event featured 12 competitions with 137 contestants and 166 experts. Nearly 1,500 people participated in the business program. The finals included representatives from 16 countries.
There is immense potential for collaboration between African countries and Russia, especially in addressing unemployment and skill shortages in Africa, Sarfo Kusi, the team leader of the Ghanaian contingent at the High-Tech Championship in Veliky Novgorod, told.
He emphasized that Africa has a youthful population that is largely underskilled.
“If Russia comes, it can target the human resource assets,” he explained, suggesting that training competitions, online hackathons, and technology labs could be crucial avenues for cooperation.
Speaking of the championship, Kusi explained that for him, the contest was not just about showcasing skills but also a learning experience.
“I came to this competition with the purpose and motive to learn and adopt Russian high technology and best practices,” he said, underscoring his primary goal to absorb knowledge and apply it back home.
What struck Kusi most during the championship was the accessibility of advanced technologies that would otherwise be out of reach for many in Africa.
“In order to be able to get the exposure to the knowledge, software licenses, manuals, you need to work in these big firms or big companies. But during this competition, you get access to these skills with software, with knowledge and the access to some materials you never get on a normal day,” he shared.Looking toward the future, Kusi believes that technological literacy will be essential in preparing Africa for the fourth industrial revolution. He placed a strong emphasis on agriculture as a sector ripe for technological integration.
“Incorporating tech into agriculture would be important. I would place agrorobotics, or tech in agriculture, as number one,” he said.
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