I have been saying this severally now, that Samsung is up-to a big impression in Africa. When others have been mainly sceptical of gambling with the African Market, Samsung is strengthening its presence further. Well. earlier today Samsung Electronics East Africa launched the second Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy in Africa. This was at Woodvale Centre Westlands, Nairobi Kenya. The Samsung Academies have an aim to develop upto 10,000 Electronics Engineers in Africa by 2015, and with this 120 students will be selected from PC Kinyanjui and Kabete Technical Samsung E-learning Centres.
The trainees will receive hands-on training for free with Samsung’s top of the range equipment, They will further get a boost by getting a chance to intern with Samsung and thereafter work as independent service technicians or employees in their retail channel outlets in the region.
Also during the launch, Samsung launched a new Customer Service Centre on the ground floor of the same building where Samsung customers will get service, repair and inquiries on all Samsung products. This is the way to create a good ecosystem where service and parts of Samsung products of all range can be serviced and at the same time the interns will have a first hand experience with dealing with customer repairs.
Yesterday, the pilot phase of the program officially ended as the first class of students graduated from the first Engineering Academy in Africa in Boksburg, South Africa; which was launched in March 2011. The ceremony was an important milestone for the students, Samsung and the African electronics industry, signifying the program’s success and the ‘green light’ for its rollout in other Africa countries. Samsung plans to launch the third Academy in Nigeria in the first quarter of this year.
The academies are a part of the company’s global ‘Hope for Children’ initiative, which places a strategic focus on bringing attention to the worldwide need for childhood education and healthcare in an effort to improve communities worldwide.