Kenya
Academy Profile
AFRALTI
Regional Academy
Established August, 2002
The African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (AFRALTI)
In the 1970’s the ITU, with the support of UNDP, developed a series of projects to help African governments set up their own centers for basic telecommunications training. In 1977, after the ITU received requests to study the possibility of setting up advanced level training institutes in certain countries, it started researching the practicality and feasibility of establishing such advanced institutions in Eastern and Southern African countries. As a result, with the help of initial UNDP funds provided from 1987 to 1991, the AFRALTI operations were established. Today 19 African countries participate in and fund the AFRALTI program. It was established as an institution to be a center for training, professional development, research and advanced education in telecommunications, ICT, finance and management.
In August 2002 AFRALTI became a new site for the Cisco Networking Academy program. While the Academy program is oftentimes integrated into a university department’s curriculum, at AFRALTI the Academy program is made into a department itself, since AFRALTI is a center for many different operations, and not solely an academic institution.
AFRALTI uses a combination of advertisements and word of mouth to attract new students to the Academy program. As a special incentive to attract women, they are offered a reduction in fees for the program. The also have their female students advertising for them to other women, and give females successful in recruiting others a free class or further reduced fees. One of their students was successful in recruiting 12 women for a single CCNA course section!
AFRALTI is now in the process of purchasing more equipment and ready to train more instructors in an effort to expand the Academy program. For more information about AFRALTI, please visit the website: www.afralti.org.