The innovative project, a first of its kind in Africa, is launched to train the youth to prepare for the digital future and develop the digital economy. 

On Saturday, May 27, Guinean Prime Minister Bernard Goumou (photo, center) officially launched the construction of a digital village in Ratoma, Conakry.  

According to the government official, the digital village aims to make Guinea a major player in Africa’s digital revolution and an internationally competitive country. 

The infrastructure will span over 46,707.12 square meters. It is co-funded, to the tune of $14.6 million, by the telecom regulator ARPT, the National Agency for Universal Service of Telecommunications and Digital (ANSUTEN), and the National Development Budget (BND).

It will host four academic and one administrative block, two buildings to house students, an amphitheater, a library, a teachers' residence, a sports center, secondary buildings, external landscaping and roads, and miscellaneous networks (VRD). It is expected to be completed within 12 months.  

According to the initiator of the project, Vocational Minister Alpha Bacar Barry, the digital village will offer ongoing ICT training from primary school through to the university level. In addition to the digital education center, the village will also have a digital entrepreneurship center and a research and development center.

This ambitious project, the first of its kind in Africa, will stimulate the development of the digital sector and train a generation of Guinean talent capable of meeting the challenges of technological innovation. It will also draw the country closer to meeting its goal of creating a generation of digital champions to be able to fully capitalize on the global digital economy for growth by 2030. 

Samira Njoya