ZANÉLLE Dalglish, Director Sustainable Development & Academy, Anglophone Africa Cluster at Schneider Electric recently formed part of an esteemed panel and guests which included the Deputy Minister of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), Buti Manamela at the Business Forum Southern Africa – France event, hosted at The Capital on the Park in Johannesburg.
The successful Business Forum Southern Africa – France aimed to foster relations between France and Southern Africa with an emphasis on identifying business opportunities in both countries and strengthening existing ties.
The event’s opening included addresses by Aurélien Lechevallier, Ambassador of France in South Africa, Lesotho and Malawi, Minister Franck Riester, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and the Attractiveness of France (video address) and Jacko Maree, Special Investment Envoy appointed by the President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Dalglish formed part of the panel: A New Approach: Building Skills for the Future which included panellists: Deputy Minister Manamela; Olivier Laouchez, CEO Trace TV; Raoul Jacquand, VP Eurowest Public Services & Africa business development Dassault Systems; Pr. Busani Ngcaweni, Principal, National School of Government; Charlotte Mokoena, Executive Vice President: Human Resources and Stakeholder Relations, SASOL; Matimba Mbungela, Chief Human Resources Officer, Vodacom.
Focusing on skills development of the future, Dalglish confirmed Schneider Electric’s commitment to education, citing numerous examples of the company’s programmes that are very comprehensive, including early development initiatives as well as programmes in the field of energy across various levels.
“At Schneider Electrical we have several programmes we’re extremely proud of which includes our Centre of Excellence that forms part of the F’SASEC (French South African Schneider Electric Education Centre) network in partnership with the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.
“F’SASEC for example aims to encourage and train youth – that don’t necessarily have the academic background but show the enthusiasm and commitment – to enter the fields of electricity and engineering,” she explained.
“I believe it is incredibly important to prepare the youth for sustainability and digital technology and at Schneider Electric we have various artisan programmes that contribute to these efforts,” added Dalglish,
The panel discussion closed with the emphasis on the importance of industry partnerships to ensure that skills upliftment and transfer aren’t only established but applied across multiple engineering disciplines to take the country to the next era of digital and sustainable technology.
