Sierra Leone News: Africell Empowers Hundreds of Students on Computer Coding

By Rima Turay

Sierra Leone’s leading telecom operator, Africell SL on Thursday August 8, 2019, launched a Coding Boot Camp for hundreds of young students in the country.

Coding is basically the computer language used to develop apps, websites and software. Without it, we’d have none of the major technology we’ve come to rely on such as Facebook, our smartphones, the browser we choose to view our favorite blogs or even the blogs themselves. It all runs on code. To put it very simply, the code is what tells your computer what to do. To go a bit deeper, computers don’t understand words. They only understand the concepts of on and off. The capabilities of a computer are guided by on and off switches or transistors. Binary code represents these on and off transistors as the digits 1 and 0. An infinite number of combinations of these codes make your computer work. In order to make binary code manageable, computer programming languages were formed. These languages each serve different purposes, but they all allow programmers to translate important commands into binary code.

The Coding Boot Camp which was launched at the Africell American Corner on Bathurst Street, Freetown on August 8, 2019, attracted students from age nine to seventeen from different schools. Over 200 students will be trained on computer coding.

Head of Corporate Strategy at Africell, Mr. Joe Abass Bangura said that recently, they attended a conference organized by NATCOM where one of the key issues discussed was the need for a digital economy in Sierra Leone.

He said the digital economy is where you do not need to go across to shops and pay bills, but one that allows you to sit at the comfort of your house and conduct transactions using the internet. He said one of the major pillars to build the digital economy is to create a responsive educational system that responds to that environment.

Mr. Bangura pointed out that Africell is already leading this direction by building a highly responsive educational system which is integral in the building of digital economy.

He maintained that Africell Coding Booth Camp is intended to build the new set of leaders that will propel Sierra Leone’s technological innovation.

He recounted that the Africell American Corner has always being a hub for training of young people. He said that Africell always delivers on its promise.

He commended the Chief Innovation Officer, Office of the President, Dr. Moinina David Sengeh for his tremendous efforts in pushing innovation forward, and helping young innovators across the country.

Dr. David Sengeh told students present that their age does not matter, but rather they should see themselves as leaders. He disclosed that the country needs minds that think competitively for ideas, and that is why the Directorate of Science and Technology was established.

He stated that the launch of the Coding Boot Camp will help students learn innovative ideas which would change their lives and the lives of many Sierra Leoneans.

He challenged students to find solutions to problems that will help transform the country.

He reiterated that, coding language does not taken into consideration age, class or social restrictions, emphasising that coding is about the alignment of thought processes and skills.

The Chief Innovation Officer pointed out that, technology is critical to Sierra Leone’s development, adding that coding skills could be used to solve complex issues such as health care, the environment, traffic and other related issues.

He emphasized jobs required 50 years ago are not the ones which are required today, and the that jobs that are required today are not the jobs which will be required 20 year after.

“This is the more reason why coding skills are very integral to meeting the job demand of today’s generation,” he said.

Representative of the Geek Express Company, Mark Debbane said that his company is partnering with Africell Sierra Leone to ensure that the growth of science and technology in the country.

He said the Coding Boot Camp will prepare students for jobs in the future.