The partnership positions skills development as a crucial pillar of the continent’s evolving energy and digital infrastructure sectors.
The One Young World Summit will take place in Cape Town, South Africa, from 3-6 November 2026; more than 2,000 young leaders from over 190 countries will come together to discuss solutions to social, economic, and environmental challenges.
The event comes at a time when Africa is experiencing growing investment in data centres and connectivity infrastructure. Schneider Electric argues that these developments must be matched by investment in the next generation of technical and business leaders.
Participating as a Ribbon Partner, Schneider Electric will be represented by chief sustainability officer Esther Finidori, chief HR officer Charise Le, and Canninah Dladla, cluster president for Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Africa has enormous potential to shape its own sustainable future, but unlocking that potential requires more than investment in infrastructure and technology. It requires investment in people,” Dladla said.
“Bringing One Young World to Cape Town creates an important platform to put Africa’s young leaders at the centre of conversations about the continent’s future. They should not simply inherit the decisions being made today – they should be part of making them.”
Bridging the skills gap
The message aligns with Schneider Electric’s wider strategy across the digital infrastructure sector: investing in the development and maintenance of technologies.
Speaking to Capacity earlier this year, Schneider Electric highlighted the rapid evolution of AI infrastructure, with growing demand for advanced liquid cooling systems and higher-density power architectures.
At Datacloud Global Congress 2026, Robert Bunger discussed how direct-to-chip water cooling has become the preferred approach for AI workloads, while new power solutions are being developed to support increasing rack demands.
Those advancements are becoming increasingly relevant in Africa as governments and investors look to build local digital infrastructure capacity and attract AI-related investment.
Schneider Electric has pointed to skills development as an equally important challenge: “While technology can create significant opportunities, its impact depends on people having the knowledge, confidence and capabilities to apply it,” added Dladla.
Through partnerships with universities, technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, and community organisations, Schneider Electric has supported programmes that prepare young people for an employment landscape being shaped by digital infrastructure and the AI boom.
As power requirements increase, operators require a workforce capable of designing and maintaining complicated infrastructure. Schneider Electric believes that leadership development must evolve alongside these technological changes.
To that end, the One Young World partnership seems to form part of Schneider Electric’s effort to bridge the gap between education and industry.
Dladla concluded: “The Summit is an opportunity to start conversations, but it is not where those conversations should end. We want to create connections that continue beyond Cape Town, between young talent and experienced leaders, between education and industry, and between ideas and opportunities.”
Pictured: Canninah Dladla, Schneider Electric cluster president for Sub-Saharan Africa
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