Version 2.0 · Effective 14 September 2026
These terms govern your use of Digital Learning Academy (the “Platform”), the professional network and learning platform operated by the SADC Development Finance Resource Centre (“the Centre”, “we”, “us”), an institution of the Southern African Development Community based in Gaborone, Botswana. The Platform serves development finance professionals across the SADC region. By creating an account or using the Platform you agree to these terms.
The Platform combines a professional network (member profiles, connections, messaging, groups and events) with a learning management system (courses, learning paths, assessments and verifiable credentials). It is provided for professional and educational use by staff of member development finance institutions and other approved participants in the Centre’s programmes. It is not a public social network and it is not open to general registration.
The Platform is for working professionals and you must be at least 18 years old to hold an account. You must provide accurate information when registering and keep your profile truthful, including your name, role and institutional affiliation. Your account is personal: you may not share your sign-in credentials or allow anyone else to use your account. You are responsible for activity that occurs under your account and must notify us promptly at SADC-DFRC@socoed.com if you suspect unauthorised access.
When using the Platform you agree not to:
We may remove content and suspend or terminate accounts that breach these rules.
The full standard, including how to report a problem, what happens after a report and how to appeal a decision, is set out in the Acceptable Use and Community Guidelines, which form part of these terms.
You keep ownership of the content you post on the Platform (posts, comments, messages, group discussions and uploaded documents). By posting it you grant the Centre a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, display and distribute that content on the Platform so the service can function. The licence lasts as long as the content is on the Platform and ends when the content is removed, except for copies held in backups until those backups age out. You are responsible for what you post and must have the right to share anything you upload. We may remove content that breaches these terms or applicable law.
Credentials and CPD points issued through the Platform record your own completion of the relevant course or assessment. Completing assessments on another person’s behalf, or presenting a credential you did not earn, is a serious breach of these terms and may be reported to your institution. The Centre may revoke a credential found to have been obtained improperly. Credential verification pages may be visible to third parties you share them with, and the credential record is kept after your account closes so that certificates already issued remain verifiable.
Course materials, the resource library, toolkits and the Platform itself are the property of the Centre or its content partners. You may use these materials for your own professional development and within your institution as indicated on the material itself, but you may not republish or commercialise them without written permission.
How we handle your personal information, learning records and content is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.
Two companion documents give the detail: the Cookie Policy explains what is stored in your browser, and the Data Retention Schedule sets out how long each category of data is kept.
We work to keep the Platform available and secure, but it is provided “as is” and we do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may add, change or withdraw features, and we may suspend the Platform for maintenance. Where practical we will give notice of significant changes.
Nothing on the Platform constitutes financial, investment or legal advice; course content and resources are professional-education materials only. To the extent permitted by law, the Centre is not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from use of, or inability to use, the Platform, including loss of data caused by events beyond our reasonable control. Nothing in these terms limits any liability that cannot be limited under the law that applies to you.
You may stop using the Platform and request deletion of your account at any time by writing to the Information Officer. We may suspend or close accounts that breach these terms, that are inactive for an extended period, or where a member’s participation in the Centre’s programmes ends. Where we close an account for a breach we will tell you why, unless the law prevents us. Where an account is closed, credential records are retained for verification purposes as described in the Privacy Policy and the Data Retention Schedule.
These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Botswana, where the Centre is established, and the courts of Botswana have jurisdiction. This does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory consumer or data-protection law in the country where you live, and it does not affect your right to complain to your own national data-protection authority. Before formal proceedings, both sides agree to try in good faith to resolve a dispute by writing to the Information Officer and allowing 30 days for a response. [TO CONFIRM: whether the Centre wishes to name arbitration under a specific institution and seat instead of, or in addition to, the courts of Botswana.]
These terms and the companion policies are published in English, Portuguese and French for convenience. The English version is the authoritative text. If there is any conflict or difference of meaning between the versions, the English version prevails.
We may update these terms from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page with a new version number and effective date, and for material changes we will notify you on the Platform and ask you to accept the new version before you continue. Continued use after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance.
Questions about these terms: SADC-DFRC@socoed.com
Version 2.0 · Effective 14 September 2026