GSM Academy opens in Germany Training opportunities for African technicians Website: www.topbusinessag.com/e/training/wireless/gsmacademy.php <http://www.topbusinessag.com/e/training/wireless/gsmacademy.php By Femi Awoniyi Mobile telecommunications is currently enjoying a boom all over Africa. However, because technicians are in short supply, millions of dollars are paid every year to foreign specialists who work in the sector. A German training and consulting company, TOP Business AG, has introduced a human resource development programme, the GSM Academy, specifically to train skilled manpower for the African mobile telecommunications sector. The GSM Academy consists of an intensive three-month training at TOP Business AG's training centre and a 6 month-practical attachment with a network operator in Europe. The company, which has 15 years of experience in global mobile infrastructure education, trains workers for reputable companies such as Alcatel, Ericsson, Nokia, Nortel and Orange. The GSM Academy, which is based on efficient knowledge transfer, will train students to become BSS Operation & Maintenance Specialists, who will be equipped with the knowledge and practical experience, "with all the competence you need to start off work immediately", with a GSM Network Operator in Africa. Those who successfully undergo the training can be sure of finding a good job after graduation because their skills are in short supply in most African countries. What's more, technicians in mobile telecommunications are enjoying far higher wages than workers in most other industries. "There are so many positions available that people have a choice," says an assistant manager with a recruiting company in Lagos. Graduates of the Academy will also be able to become self-employed by setting up handset repair shops, for example. The GSM course, which normally costs 30,000 euros per trainee, is being offered to Africans for only 4,500 euros, as it is subsidized by international organisations in line with the new philosophy of development assistance, which puts priority on the training of skilled manpower for Africa. This will help the continent conserve foreign exchange it otherwise spends on foreign experts who are said to take billions of dollars out of the continent every year. According to Bernhard Kuhn, Vice President - Telecommunication Networks Training & Consulting, at TOP Business AG, "well trained professionals have better chances to get a job or improve their career. And as we can see these people as a knowledge kernel can multiply the specific know-how with their daily work". The GSM Academy is appropriate for candidates, who must have had education and/or training in electronics. Accommodation, health insurance and feeding of the participants will be provided for the duration of the school course. However trainees will be expected to meet their transport and other living expenses. Only 32 participants will be admitted for the first course and it will be on first-come, first-served basis. TOP Business AG will organise visa and other travel formalities for participants. All participants are required to return to their home countries after the successful completion of the course, which will commence on 2 October 2006. More information about the GSM Academy may be obtained from TOP Business AG Mr Bernhard Kuhn Klingenhofstrasse 58 D-90411 Nuremberg Germany Phone: 0049 - 911 95117-300 Mobile: 0049 - 177 3313805 Fax: 0049 - 911 95117-309 E-mail: bernhard.kuhn@topbusinessag.com <mailto:bernhard.kuhn@topbusinessag.com Website: www.topbusinessag.com/e/training/wireless/gsmacademy.php <http://www.topbusinessag.com/e/training/wireless/gsmacademy.php ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Yahoo! Mail réinvente le mail !* Découvrez le nouveau Yahoo! Mail <http://fr.rd.yahoo.com/evt=40577/*http://fr.promotions.yahoo.com/mail/nouvea... et son interface révolutionnaire.