The Sèmè City Development Agency (https://www.SemeCity.bj/), the flagship project of the Benin government’s action plan, announced today that it is stepping up its strategic efforts to improve the training and professional integration of young people, with a special focus on English-speaking partners. Potential partners are invited to submit partnership and co-creation proposals covering projects in the fields of learning, research and entrepreneurship by 31 October 2022. This call for proposals is in line with Sèmè City’s commitment to promoting innovations made in Africa to create jobs. and wealth in West Africa.
The focus on English-speaking partnerships follows the success of the first launch in June 2022 of a call for projects targeting mainly French-speaking partners. During this first phase, 11 partnership agreements with French academic institutions and companies were signed in the presence of President Macron in Sème. These partnership agreements cover the implementation of several quality training and professional integration programs that will be rolled out from 2022 to meet the training and recruitment needs of sectors facing shortages.
Sèmè City provides an attractive and dynamic environment for various partners to develop projects with high returns. Target partners:
- Operators providing higher education and technical and vocational training programs;
- Incubators and accelerators of business projects;
- Laboratories, research centers and departments of universities;
- Companies active in the education and innovation ecosystem;
- Experts in educational technology and in creating high-level training and business programs.
The Managing Director of Sèmè City, Ms. Claude Borno, commenting on the call for proposals, stated, “By creating Sèmè City, Benin is developing a unique setup to train a new generation of talent, prepare them for the future and promote a growth model based on innovation made in Africa. Since our inception in 2017, we have laid a solid foundation to make this vision a reality. The new partnerships we are establishing as part of the 2022 Call for Projects represent a strong commitment to building tomorrow’s successes together in Africa today. We expect a very strong impact in terms of jobs, products and services recognized as innovative, and solutions that can be exported far beyond the continent.”
Located in Benin on the west coast of Africa, Sèmè City is the gateway to a thriving sub-regional ecosystem of vocational training and innovative entrepreneurship. Since its launch in 2017, Sèmè City has grown exponentially and offers programs spread across four locations in Benin. Several hundred students and researchers are enrolled in a variety of undergraduate, research, and graduate programs. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs also participated in capacity building and support programs.
Phase 1 of the project is currently operational with a 4,500 square meter campus in Cotonou that includes modular and furnished classrooms, an auditorium, research spaces and a data center. Next to the university campus, the 2,500 square meter Sèmè City Open Park provides access to tools for prototyping and 3D printing in buildings constructed from containers.
Among the partnerships already launched in Phase 1 are academic institutions such as Epitech, École de Design Nantes Atlantique, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and Sorbonne University, as well as several technical and financial partners, including the World Bank, UNICEF, UNFPA, Belgian Development Department. agency (ENABEL), and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)
In the second phase, Sèmè City will be able to host up to 33,000 students, entrepreneurs and innovators from various African countries in its new 336-hectare smart ecocampus being developed in Oude, a suburban area where several major tourism projects are underway. Organized around five innovation clusters, the Ouidah campus will be operational by the start of the 2025 academic year:
- Cluster 1 Science, technology, engineering, mathematics and sustainable cities
- Cluster 2 Art, design and creative industries
- Cluster 3 Education, humanities and social sciences
- Cluster 4 Sports, nutrition and health
- Cluster 5 Tourism, hospitality and catering
Built next to a protected forest, this eco-city is designed to preserve the exceptional environment. It will combine housing, sports facilities and shops. Services will be available for partners who want to rent premises, and plots will be available for those who want to develop their projects.
The vision of phase 2 of Sèmè City materializes through the development of a regional center of higher education and technical and vocational training with infrastructure and technical platforms that meet the necessary standards to facilitate training and professional adaptation. This regional center for vocational training and entrepreneurship will provide young people with a conducive learning environment inspired by successful models, as well as opportunities to enter French- and English-speaking African markets.
The invitation is open to organizations and institutions located in Africa and outside the region. For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/3RWTAQG
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Sèmè City.
Media contact:
Lived Ametepe
Djembe Consultants
+233 24 86 066 52
[email protected]
Social networks:
Twitter: @SemeCity
Facebook: https://bit.ly/3RLLhrd
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3qHrCN4
[email protected]
About the Simi City Development Agency:
Sèmè City, the International City of Innovation and Knowledge, is a flagship project of the Government of Benin, managed by the Agency for the Development of the City of Sèmè (ADSC). Created by Decree No. 2017-440 of August 31, 2017, ADSK is a state financial independent institution. ADSC’s mission is to develop and implement an enabling and attractive framework for various partners, which are academic institutions, research centers, incubators and companies, with the aim of creating an innovation ecosystem, a creator of prosperity and jobs. The goal is to equip hundreds of thousands of young Africans with the skills and competencies they need to succeed in a dynamic and rapidly changing work environment. These advances in knowledge and innovation will create more than 100,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2030, one-third of which will be self-employed and 40% of which will be created by women.
This press release was published by APO. The content is not under the editorial control of African Business and the content has not been checked or verified by our editorial teams, proofreaders or fact-checkers. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this message.
