Atos Group, a French company specialising in IT consulting, management and systems integration, says it will open offices in the soon-to-be-built Diamniadio Valley, where it aims to create 50 jobs this year and 1000 in the next three years.
Atos CEO Thierry Breton, who made the announcement at a recent ICT forum held in the capital Dakar, said his wish was to see Senegal become an IT services exporter like India.
Diamniadio Valley is a gigantic digital city set to be built in the city of Diamniadio located at some 40 km east of the capital Dakar.
The project is initially expected to cost US$120 million, US$100 million of which will be funded by Tunis-based African Development Bank (AfDB).
Atos Group, which has been operating in Senegal in the past decade through the Bull company, has plans to transfer skills to contribute to the advancement of ICT in this West African nation of 13 million people.
Breton said his company's presence in Senegal will ensure that Atos launches a digital platform to provide jobs for Senegalese engineers in the area of software development for large global programs.
Breton launched a desperate plea to African countries to prioritise training and build quality infrastructure if they wanted to see the continent's ICT sector move forward.
"Training is extremely vital and young people must be encouraged to embrace science and technology as a career," he said.