The education system in sub-Saharan Africa in general has not really changed since the colonial period. In the past, people were trained to be civil servants in colonial administrations and also to be positioned in strategic positions to lead their respective countries. It is this content that has remained until now in the system of the different countries even if there are new disciplines, the overall content remains the same. The realities of our countries have changed. We have to move from the period of production and export to the period of production to transformation if this country really wants to develop. The civil service and the administrations of our countries can no longer employ the majority of the people they train especially for general education and this is well illustrated by more than 3000 doctors who are unemployed in Ivory Coast. As for technical and professional education, our observation was very bitter with the absence of materials for practice. Also, those who do have the material did not have the expertise to use it. We were shocked to discover that some machines had arrived without a battery or without a key part which obviously means that this equipment will not work, but this was not noticed because the recipients do not know about it. Good training could make these professionals experts and will save us from the situations mentioned above.
A model that is transforming learning across the globe. Unlike English-speaking countries with very advanced entrepreneurship systems, supported and accompanied by their states, it is clear that this is far from being the case for Côte d’Ivoire. Whereas, if entrepreneurship was taught and supported in our country, the unemployment rate would go down. In view of this observation, we will look at the inadequacies of the educational system in our homeland, Ivory Coast.
The economy of Ivory Coast is based on agriculture, said the first president of Ivory Coast, the late Felix Houphet Boigny.
The world’s leading producer of cocoa with a representation of 50% of the world’s total production, Ivory Coast has only about ten officially recognized agricultural schools and these schools only train a minority of people who generally become agricultural engineers and who work for foreign structures or agronomy professors. Rare are those who actually look into agriculture and make it a profession. This leads us to understand why our economy is classified among the underdeveloped countries. Ivory Coast is one of the top ten economies in Africa, occupying ninth place, ahead of Tanzania, with a GDP growth rate of 7% on average over the period from 2024 to 2025. But the gap between training and the reality of reaching the desired level of development remains a real problem.
Let us now look at the realities of the educational system relating to agriculture in Ivory Coast. Unfortunately, agricultural schools in Ivory Coast do not have the cutting-edge tools and technology needed to train farmers to international standards. This explains the traditional methods used by our brave farmers despite the existence of these schools. Our farmers are not trained for the profession of agriculture. They rely on the knowledge of their ancestors while still using their hands for these major works. According to a publication in MECAGRI magazine, only 2,112 tractors are available for Ivorian agriculture. Let us imagine that these farmers are trained for agriculture and the use of industrial tools are introduced into the agricultural system, it would be a real gain for our country. In view of all this, we can say that education in Ivory Coast is out of line with the realities of the country. We strongly suggest that our authorities really look into the subject of agricultural education and start this by equipping the agricultural schools that already exist, creating more agricultural schools, identifying our current farmers, training them and monitoring their activities over a minimum period of six months, to ensure that the tools and techniques learned have been well assimilated. Also, it’s important to train our agricultural school teachers so that they become familiar with new tools, methods and technology related to agriculture.
In addition, schools should be located in areas that are known for high agricultural exploitation as this would create more involvement and enthusiasm for farmers. Authorities should organize awareness campaigns to educate farmers on good practices for better production.
The authorities should provide scholarships to students so that they can go for training in so-called developed countries, in order to learn new agricultural skills that they will then duplicate in Ivory Coast.
____________________ August 2024 to Present Matanga Agency Senegal: Managing Partner Main achievements : •Manage the subsidiary autonomously under the supervision of the CEO group. •Develop the agency’s strategic and commercial activities. •Development of marketing strategies at the local level •Manage local teams, ensure their productivity and guarantee the quality of the services provided. •Ensure coordination with headquarters on strategic decisions and significant financial commitments. •Contribute to the development of subsidiaries in the West Africa region. [2023- 2024](9 months): H&C Group 14 countries (Dakar-Senegal):Vice President Sales and Customer Experience Customer Experience Main achievements : •Develop the training strategy for the Head of Customer experience of the 14 subsidiaries and the local team •Development of the business development strategy •Contribution to the development of the Marketing plan •Participation in Marketing campaigns •Ensure the implementation and monitoring of the customer satisfaction strategy in the group and in the subsidiary •Manage, monitor and supervise the performance of Customer support teams •Daily meeting to get team feedback and motivate the team to ensure optimized productivity •Development of KPIs to monitor and supervise the performance of sales teams •Coach and train the sales and customer relations team by helping them make good calls and emails for customer satisfaction •Development of sales campaigns ensuring additional sales •Resolving conflicts within the team •In charge of VIP & VVIP Customers (CEOs, Executives, Senior Executives, Board Members, etc.) •Organization of Workshop events (Kigali, Dubai, Accra, Dakar, Abidjan etc.) •Proposal for the creation of a new product based on customer demand. •Evaluation of objectives based on results and KPIs •Ensure daily reporting on the checklist * Analyzing data for fact-based decision making. Results :Annual targets of 2.5 billion achieved in June 2023 and 3 billion 100 million December 2023 [2022-2023](1 year 4 months):H&C Group (Senegal):Head of Customer Experience & Business Development: Main achievements : •Responsible for the development of activities at the local level •B to B prospecting to ensure additional sales •Customer monitoring and satisfaction assessment • Charming Customers •Processing Requests •Management of CRM tools, DESK, Sales IQ, Kartra, Uscreen, Trello, Monday, Slack, Asana, zoho Phone number: +2250799552165 Whatsapp: +221774766637
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.