Press Release
On Saturday, January 12, 2019 at 4:00pm, a new institute for training young people in Information Technology and providing advanced training for currently practising professionals in the field will be officially launched at 55 Kairaba Avenue, Fajara, The Gambia. Everyone is welcomed to attend the opening ceremony. It is hoped that His Excellency President Barrow and the First Lady will be amongst the distinguished guests.
The Indian Institute of Hardware Technology (IIHT) Gambia Limited is associated with IIHT Technologies – an organization which operates in more than 100 cities across India and 23 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. The Institute will offer programs fully accredited by the Ministry of Education.
To date, more than 5½ million GMD in pre-operational expenditures have been incurred to ensure a quality beginning of instruction and training. Certified instructors will come from India, a well-recognized leader in innovative technology and training and an exporter of the highest number of IT experts in the world.
The goal of IIHT Gambia Limited is to build a cadre of 1000 skilled professionals in the first two years to lend the needed support to help The Gambia to make progress towards achieving technological independence.
At the end of five years, the goal is to have a skilled workforce of 5,000 to generate $100 million USD through export of IT services, assist the government to reduce unemployment and provide Gambian youth an alternative pathway to the current backway to Europe which can mean risking their lives to find employment.
IIHT Gambia Limited is born out of the vision of an expatriate, Ousman Bah, who was born and raised in The Gambia, but left at the age of 18 to gain his higher education and training in the United States where he has lived for over 28 years in the Silicon Valley.
Although he is now a citizen of his adopted country, he has never lost his vision of one day giving back to his native country which has given him so much. Mr. Bah achieved a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology and a double Masters
Degrees – MBA and MSc. He is an individual who firmly believes in education and training as essential to empowering youth and improving the lives of people.
About IIHT Gambia Limited
IIHT Gambia Ltd. is associated with IIHT Technologies Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading IMS Education and Training organizations in India and Asia.
The organization is headquartered in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, but spreads its tentacles in more than 100 cities across India and 23 countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
IIHT’s presence since the dawn of the technology boom and its rich experience of training students for two decades, persistent enhancements and adapting to every new innovation ensures its continuity to add value to the careers of students and also to the IT industry by providing skilled manpower mapped to job specific requirements in the areas of IT Infrastructure Management, Android App Development, Web App Development, Software Engineering, Cloud Computing, Mobile Computing, Big Data Management and many more.
Most giant and renowned multinational companies around the globe such as accenture, cisco, vmware, Adobe, capgemini, iGATE, Infosys, WIPRO etc. rely on IIHT to cater for their manpower requirements due to its enviable reputation in the IT industry.
Besides obtaining skills mapped to specific job roles in IT, IIHT’s outcome based education system helps a student to be a proactive technology expert. This is a unique differentiation in the job market and sets IIHT apart from the competition. The advent of IIHT in the Gambia emanated from the vision of an expatriate, Ousman Bah and his partners.
Who’s Ousman Bah?
Mr. Bah was born and raised in The Gambia, but left at the age of 18 to pursue his higher education and training in the United States where he has lived for almost 3 decades in the Silicon Valley. He held several executive positions in corporate America such as Managing Director for AT&T, Regional Vice President with Bank of America, leading a start-up Technology company, just to mention a few. Although he is now a citizen of his adopted country, he has never lost his vision of one day giving back to his native country which has given him so much. Mr. Bah has achieved a Bachelor’s Degree in IT and a double Masters Degrees – MBA and MSc. He is an individual who firmly believes in education and training as essential tools in empowering youth and improving the lives of people. IIHT Gambia Limited is a franchisee of IIHT Technologies Private Ltd. in India. The Training centre will offer IT programs fully accredited by the National Accreditation & Quality Assurance Authority and international academic partners effect from January 2019. Certified instructors are hired from India, a well-recognized leader in innovative technology and training and an exporter of the highest number of IT experts in the world. The mission of IIHT Gambia Ltd. is to offer world class IT education and training with state-of-the-art technology infrastructure across the Gambia to make progress towards achieving technological independence. We do hope to have a skilled workforce of 5,000 to generate $100 million through export of IT products and services by the end of five years. Besides, our vision is to equip and empower youth and working professionals with meaningful IT skills to enhance their employability and enrich their intellect.
Mr. Bah comes to his leadership of the IIHT School with a wealth of academic training and experience with major international companies and institutions based in the United States. His experience includes working in various executive positions with such firms as the AT&T, Bank of America and Worldpay. He is currently employed as a Regional Sales Director for the West Coast for Clearent—a company in the Fintech Industry that is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. After several visits back to The Gambia, most recently in 2017, Mr. Bah was inspired on each visit by the talent and potential of the young people he met. Hebecame aware of the fact that, although 12,000 Gambians finish Grade 12 annually, less than 25% secure full time employment nor is able to travel overseas to advance their education. He was also aware of the lack of resources available to train those students in the technology field. This is where the idea of IIHT was conceived. Mr. Bah felt obligated to give back to his country of origin and provide a program that can give every young Gambian the knowledge, skills and training to compete in the technology of the 21st Century. He reached out to the Indian Institute of Hardware Technology (IIHT) about opening a training center in Banjul to prepare high school graduates and other working professionals already in the field of technology to enhance their skills in information technology/cloud computing in a handson program. The goal is to connect talent to opportunity and enable Gambians and students from neighboring countries to access a gateway to a global career. Mr. Bah has traveled extensively all over the world. His major interest since a young age has always been and remains using technology to enrich the lives of people. He earned both of his Masters Degrees from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. Mr. Bah is married and has one son. He lives in San Leandro, California, USA—a part of the San Francisco Bay Area.
