APA-Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) – Through this partnership, the Groupement interbancaire monétique de UEMOA (Interbank electronic payment group, GIM-UEMOA) aims to encourage students to take up careers and entrepreneurship.
“The agreement we have signed relates to the Human Capital Development component of the GIM Trilogy,” said Coulibaly Minayegnan, Managing Director of GIM-Uemoa, at the Institut National Polytechnique Felix Houphouet-Boigny (INPHB) in Yamoussoukro on Friday 3 May 2024.
This partnership with the INPHB is part of GIM-Uemoa’s CSR policy and “we have taken on our responsibilities as a limited company owned by the central bank to ensure that our sector does not suffer from skills shortages in the future,” he said.
GIM-UEMOA has launched the “GIM Trilogy” initiative in Côte d’Ivoire, comprising three programmes: GIM Vocation, GIM-Developpement du Capital Humain (GIM-DCH) and GIM-Centre Regional d’Innovation des Paiement (GIM-CRIP).
According to Mr Coulibaly Minayegnan, this initiative aims to develop talent in key technologies, notably cybersecurity, blockchain and artificial intelligence, to “enable all players to tackle this new digital world with the resources they need.”
Following the signing of the agreement, renowned experts took part in a panel discussion with the students. They discussed the challenges of cybersecurity and blockchain, emphasising that these fields are sources of jobs and innovation.
“We were able to see the breadth of the two topics on offer and we are delighted to have received all this knowledge. From now on, it’s a seed in the minds of our students, and some of them are going to take this path,” said Mr. Pale Sie, Secretary General of the INPHB.
This partnership between GIM-Uemoa and the INPHB, a flagship school of training on the continent in several scientific fields, opens up the arcane of knowledge around key technologies, to create young talent.
Coulibaly Minayegnan explained at a secondary school that the aim of the GIM Vocation programme is “to encourage vocations from secondary school level so that these fields, which offer careers and jobs, can be popularised and benefit all our secondary school students.”
The aim of this initiative is to “enable all secondary schools in the Uemoa region to better orient themselves in this new world, which requires skills in technology, and we have presented these different
possibilities to them,” he pointed out.
The GIM-Regional Payments Innovation Centre (GIM-CRIP) programme aims to create courses of study in the major schools and universities incorporating technologies such as cybersecurity, blockchain and
artificial intelligence.
Following in the footsteps of Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal is set to host this programme, which aims to nurture talent in the UEMOA region, from secondary school level through to the ‘Grandes Ecoles’, particularly
in the field of digital payments.
AP/fss/as/APA