Skill Up the Young Generation.

Millions of young Africans are left behind in term of digital empowerment and entrepreneurial skills. This unfortunate situation has squarely reflected to the inability of young people to access to digital information and quality education. 

In Sierra Leone alone seven (7) in every ten (10) young people lack digital and entrepreneurial skills. As a result, the country is recording high increase in unemployment and digital divide among her young population.

These may be due to the insufficient infrastructure and lack of supporting platforms of technology availability in Africa to empower and capacitate her young generation with the require digital education and entrepreneurial skills they need to become creative thinkers, self-reliance, resourceful and problem solvers in their various communities.

According to a BBC Focus on Africa report it was stated that Africa is the continent with the youngest population. Therefore, Smart Up Africa Sierra Leone is bridging the gap of digital divide and youth unemployment in Sierra Leone by creating a liberating and supporting environment where young people are empowered with digital education and entrepreneurial skill to become resourceful, self-reliance and innovative in their communities irrespective of their geographic and socioeconomic status. Thus, investing in them the ability to develop creative mindset, participate in informed decision making, established their own enterprises and disrupting the status quo with creative idea in solving problems affecting their communities while contributing difference to national development.

Smart Up Africa Sierra Leone has a unique intervention approach to empower over five thousand (5000) young Sierra Leoneans with digital education and entrepreneurial skills through the implementation of a "Mobile Digital and Business Training Lab (Mobile School)" that consist of a Moving Van with necessary Digital training equipment moving from one rural communities to another on schedule to train and capacitate targeted young people with Digital and Entrepreneurship skills.

This intervention is very cost-effective and adaptable for marginalize communities where there are shortage of electricity other  ICT supporting infrastructures, to make sure that no young Africans irrespective of his or her geographic is left out  or underrated.

As a result to the above intervention Smart up Africa Sierra Leone has a greater competitive edge over others in achieving it mission and building trust in young people by bringing empowerment at their door steps.

With this cost-effective solution to empower young people with digital education and entrepreneurship skill, Smart up Africa Sierra Leone anticipate to achieve Decent Work And Economic Growth (SDG 8)in Africa by empower over five thousand young people by 2025, and fifteen thousand by 2029.

Smart Up Africa Sierra Leone is consist of profession to propelled the mission of the organization to achieve its goal.

The organization is made has board of directors, top executive, field staffs and volunteer who share a common value and work collaboratively to achieve the objectives of the organization.

Some of her top executive members are:

1. SulaimanTanu Bah; He is the founder and current CEO of smart Up Africa.

He ensures leadership role in the organization; He serves as an intermediary between the Board of Directors and other executives. He participates in decision and policy making. He represents the Organization in official duties both national and internationally.

HE holds a degree BSc. Hons in Business and Information Technology.

2. Lahai Aruna Jagbanee Gbonnie; He is the Skill Up Young Generation program coordinator. He initiates the possible strategies and cost-effective implementation plans. He supervises operations and report to the CEO. 

He holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business Administration.

3. Hawa Kallon; She is the organization secretary. She is responsible for all documentation. She act as the public face of the organization. She embarks on outreach, community engagement, Tv and local radio station discussion program. She keeps records of all official document, and responsible to chair meeting.

She holds a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Community Study.

4. Field Training Instructors; They are made up of team of twenty instructors that engage in training young people with digital and entrepreneurial skill training. They facilitate sessions, evaluate and report on trainee performance.

Each Field Training Instructors holds a degree in Information Communication Technology; Computer Science, Business Administration, and Entrepreneurship.

Smart Up Africa is highly in need of Mentorship, technical and financial support from Solve to help continue with its mission and to achieve its objectives.

Currently Smart Up Africa has recorded higher  increase on the number of young people especially school dropouts and teenage mothers registering to participate on the Skill Up Young Generation capacity building program.

As a result, It is facing the challenge of insufficient training materials, equipment and other logistics to support the effective delivering of it service.

In addition, due to the high demand of the Skill Up Young Generation capacity building program among young people in Sierra Leone, Smart Up Africa Sierra Leone requires to employer four additional professional staffs who will contribute to achieve the objectives of Smart Up Africa Sierra Leone as we expand our services to other remote rural communities in Sierra Leone.

Conclusively, in nutshell, Smart Up Africa is applying to Solve for financial funding and technical assistance to strengthen its mission by procuring sufficient training materials and equipment and to employ professional staffs as it expand its operations to other regions.

Smart Up Africa Sierra Leone has a unique intervention approach to empower over ive thousand (5000) young Sierra Leoneans with digital education and entrepreneurship skills through the implementation of a "Mobile Digital and Business Training Lab (Mobile School)" that consist of a Moving Van with necessary Digital training equipment moving from one rural communities to another on schedule to train and capacitate targeted young people with Digital and Entrepreneurship skills.

This intervention is very cost-effective and adaptable for marginalize communities where there are shortage of electricity other  ICT supporting infrastructures, to make sure that no young Africans irrespective of his or her geographic is left out  or underrated.

As a result to the above intervention Smart up Africa Sierra Leone has a greater competitive edge over others in achieving it mission and building trust in young people by taking empowerment opportunities.

The introduction of the "Mobile Digital and Business Training Lab (Mobile School)" cost-effective solution to empower young people with digital education and entrepreneurship skill.

Currently many rural primary and secondary schools in Sierra Leone are teaching ICT as a subject in their curriculum. However, these schools lack the the supporting infrastructure and ICT training devices such as computers, Projectors, or electricity to effectively impact practical knowledge on the pupils. It is sad to understand that many pupils in rural community school are learning ICT in the class room have never set eyes or touch a physical computer. Therefore, with the intervention of Smart Up Africa Sierra Leone "Mobile Digital and Business Training Lab (Mobile School)" pupils in rural community school will be provided with practical opportunity to physically interact or operate ICT devices like computers to improve their knowledge and skills.

Smart Up Africa also targets young school dropouts and teenage mothers given them the opportunity to acquire practical digital education and entrepreneurship skill training to become resourceful and self reliance in society. Thus, reducing the rate of unemployment among unfortunate young people.

Targeted young people who undertake the skill up training (degital education and entrepreneurship skill training) will be mentored and supported with seed capital to establish and run their own businesses. Thus creating employment opportunities for others, participating in informed policy and decision making, and applying innovative solutions to the problems affecting thier community.

Smart up Africa anticipate to achieve Decent Work And Economic Growth (SDG 8) in Africa by empowering capacitatie over five thousand young people by 2025, and fifteen thousand by 2029.

Smart Up Africa is maximizing progress through the introduction of it  "Mobile Digital and Business Training Lab (Mobile School)".

Beneficiaries are now becoming job creators establishing and running their own small scale business.

Majority of young people are now convenient with the use of computer another digital devices to access information and digital opportunities.

Rural community  school pupils are now capable of participating coding competition or  hackathon challenges, due to their practical experience with  "Mobile Digital and Business Training Lab (Mobile School)".

The Skill up Young Generation capacity program is making positive progress toward achieving it objectives.

Due to the introduction of its unique approach in provide cost-effective capacity building and empowerment in digital education and entrepreneurial skill training at the door step of every targeted young African through it "Mobile Digital and Business Training Lab (Mobile School)”, has succeeded in empowering five hundred (500) school dropouts and teenage mothers, who were once labelled as failure in their communities, they have now running their own businesses, employing others and solving societal problems.

This has motivated many other school dropouts and teenage mothers to show up for the Smart up Africa Sierra Leone Digital Education and Entrepreneurial skill training, through its Skill Up Young Generation capacity building program.

The intervention of Smart Up Africa to bridge the gap on digital divide and reducing the unemployment rate on young  people by making them more innovative and resourceful, in a has a practical evident toward community development. In addition, the beneficiaries of this training are forming a network of transformational leader to impact change and inspire others

Smart Up Africa entirely center it service on operation on technology.

It center core of operation is to empower young people with technology through digital and entrepreneurship training.

Beneficiaries who undergone the training and are now running their own businesses are provided with mentoring opportunity through Email Meeting, Zoom, and other social interaction application.

At Smart Up Africa Sierra Leone leadership and respect for diversity are among our core values.

Therefore we give equal opportunities and fair treatment to everyone irrespective of their gender, background, race, or sexual orientation.

we believe that respect for diversity and inclusion will generate an encouraging culture for excellent employee performance.

OUR MISSION: To create a liberating and supporting environment where young people are empower and capacitate with digital education and entrepreneurial skill training to become resourceful, innovative and self-reliance in society irrespective of their geographic and socioeconomic status.

At Smart Up Africa we tried to maintain financial sustainability through:

• Donation in cash or in kind
• Grant and business loan
• We charge affordable fees of $20 per month for the training programs.
• Online Advertisement: Via our online mentorship platforms when target subscribers with adds and other empowerment opportunities.

One of the van we are using as a mobile digital school  to reach remote rural communities was damage in an accident due to bad road network, one of our partners steps in to cover the maintenance charges.

in addition, beneficiaries of our entrepreneurship training and mentorship programs, who received starting seed capital to established and run their business, in turn donate to our organization to carry our our mission after the became very successful.

Though we charge affordable fee for our training program, in partnership with the ministry of education, we often received some basic training material for our activities.