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LR grows IT e-learning in Africa

By Nkuli Mngcungusa
Johannesburg, 31 Jan 2006

LR Learning Solutions, part of Learning Resources, says it is positioning itself to deliver its e-learning solutions across Africa.

The company intends to be more involved in Pan-African projects such as those developed by the New Partnership for Africa`s Development (Nepad) e-learning programmes, such as e-School.

LR will attend the first annual e-learning Africa conference, to be staged in Ethiopia in May.

The firm`s e-learning courses for Africa are offered in partnership with Thomson NETg, and cover IT end-user skills, IT technical subjects, business skills and soft skills, says Jeremie Ferre, LR Learning Solutions channel manager.

Included are courses on project management, call centre management and supervision, sales and marketing, business law, communication, conflict handling and the International Computer Driving Licence. Thomson NETg develops Microsoft, Cisco and Oracle certification courses.

LR Learning Solutions supplies e-learning courses in English and French and is represented by channel partners in Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion.

Later, it aims to expand into other African countries like Ethiopia, Angola and the DRC and to offer courses to Portuguese speaking countries.

"African governments and educational institutions are investing more in ICT," says Ferre. He cites as an example Mozambique, which he says already has an ICT minister.

"SA, Kenya, Senegal and Mauritius are the most successful countries in terms of e-learning because their governments have pushed ICT initiatives," he says.

However, he notes that e-learning cannot be rolled out without suitable infrastructure in place. "The issue of bandwidth remains a barrier, therefore setting up VSATs and implementing wireless technology would be viable options to ensuring that e-learning gets delivered in rural areas, although finance would initially be a challenge," he says.

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