Robert Ngeru shows off Samsung products/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 1 – Samsung Electronics East Africa (SEEA) has launched its second engineering academy in Africa with an aim to train 10,000 electronic engineers across the continent by 2015.
Deputy Managing Director for East and Central Africa, Robert Ngeru said through the centre – the second after South Africa – the firm is aligning itself towards the Vision 2030 to encourage entrepreneurship and self-employment initiatives.
“This how we will sustain innovation that speaks to the needs of the continent; the answer lies in supporting the development of African thought leaders who will be best placed to help us meet the continent’s future.
“We have a vision of developing technology that is built for Africa by Africans. This is why education is fundamental and lies at the heart of Samsung Electronics East Africa,” said Ngeru.
Director for Information and Research in the Ministry of Industrialisation, Joseph Kiplagat said the country needs more skilled personnel to help drive Kenya towards robust growth.
“Our technical institutions need to be enhanced through advanced personnel. We have a very robust engineering base, but no doubt it needs to be enhanced, it needs adequately trained personnel who can easily be integrated into the job market and economy to help economic growth,” said Kiplagat.
The training centre will have 120 students selected from various technical institutions.
Also launched at the same function was a Customer Service Plaza which will provide a one-stop shop for service, repair and inquiries on all Samsung products as part of the company’s efforts to increase customer service in the region.
The pilot phase of the program officially ended in March last year in South Africa.
On Tuesday, the company announced a partnership deal with Mitsumi Computers as its authorised distributor for the complete range of Samsung information technology products.
Ngeru had said this will help the company grow its footprint in the East African region.
“In terms of value, when you look at the potential opportunities in IT within the region, you’re looking at growing at least to 40 percent of the market share for Samsung. So according to research conducted by the company, this would translate to around Sh16 billion. But if market share grows beyond this, it benefits both Mistumi and Samsung,” he stated.
