Digital Skills Academy, a Dublin-headquartered training firm, is partnering with South Africa's largest telecommunications company to upskill its corporate teams in Africa.
The partnership with MTN Group comes soon after the Digital Skills Academy announced that it had opened an office in Johannesburg. Other partnerships tied down by the company include South Africa’s top retail bank, Standard Bank, and professional services firm KPMG.
Digital Skills Academy said that it had facilitated its international expansion by becoming a fully online teaching institution.
The company’s new International Bachelor of Science Degrees in Digital Skills is accredited by Dublin Institute of Technology, and focuses on upskilling corporate teams and professionals for careers in digital.
Participants from the UK, South Africa, Mexico, Finland, Lithuania and Ireland are currently enrolled in Digital Skills Academy courses.
In Association with
Founded and owned by Paul Dunne, Digital Skills Academy launched in 2008. The most recent account filings for Dunne’s firm, which is being supported by Enterprise Ireland, are for the 12 months to June 2014, when it booked a profit of €17,000, bringing accumulated profits to €130,000. Total liabilities came to €602,000 and the company had year-end net worth of €131,000.
Speaking about his business’s expansion, Dunne said that his focus from the start had included building partnerships with industry internationally.
He added: “The feedback … internationally is that the digital skills shortage is proving to be a challenge across a range of business functions. The solution needed is not only to add more IT people, but rather to add new digital skills to existing staff in the business. This is the challenge that Digital Skills Academy addresses.”
Mteto Nyati, CEO of MTN South Africa, said the agreement will support the telecoms giant’s transformational projects, primarily around its customer services and digital strategies.
(from left) Mteto Nyati, MTN South Africa, Digital Skills Academy owner Paul Dunne and Ireland's ambassador to South Africa, Liam Mac Gabhann
