Open Institute of Technology Introduces Intern’l Distance-Learning IT Degrees to Africa

Rebecca Ejifoma

Open Institute of Technology (OPIT), a European-accredited higher education institution under the European Qualification Framework (EQF), has launched two online degrees in Information Technology for students and professionals in Africa and worldwide.

The two degrees are BSc in Modern Computer Science and MSc in Applied Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (AI).

For its maiden academic year starting September 2023, OPIT said it looks forward to welcoming students worldwide to the first class in these special courses.

In a statement, OPIT said for students and professionals in Africa, its leadership is particularly excited about bringing affordable, world-class technology training to students from emerging markets such as Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, among others.

It added: “OPIT is offering these degrees to students from all over the world, which is 100 per cent online and remote.

“Through these degrees, OPIT seeks to equip its graduates to build resilience and create real value for the businesses they work for across Africa.”

OPIT was founded by Riccardo Ocleppo, founder of Docsity, a community of 20 million students and a marketing partner of over 250 universities worldwide, and Prof. Francesco Profumo, former Minister of Education of Italy, and former Dean of Politecnico di Torino in Italy.

The BSc and MSc from OPIT are fully accredited by the EU, with accreditation from the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA).

According to OPIT, its approach is practical and hands-on by combining a faculty with decades of academic experience and big tech industry expertise.

Students can, therefore, expect to benefit from both essential IT skills training and dedicated career coaching.

In the words of OPIT co-founder and Rector, Profumo, “Companies require skilled individuals who can develop and implement innovative solutions to complex problems.

“From software engineering to data analysis and machine learning, a degree in Computer Science and AI equips graduates with the skills needed to thrive in this dynamic industry.”

He added that the starting point for OPIT is the awareness of the misalignment in the labour market between what is taught by universities and what companies are looking for today.

He emphasised: “That so-called mismatch is generated by too much theory and too little practical approach.”