Addis Ababa, Ethiopia · July 2026
The African Union International Centre for Girls' and Women's Education in Africa (AU CIEFFA), in partnership with ImpactHER, launched the fourth edition of their fully-funded online capacity-building training programme in July 2026. Titled #AfricaEducatesHer — Digital Skills for All: Bridging the Gender Gap in STEAM, Financial Literacy, and Entrepreneurship, the initiative is designed to deliver practical, industry-relevant training to young Africans across all 55 African Union Member States and the African Diaspora.
The application period for the 2026 edition closed on 31 July 2026, with training cohorts scheduled to begin on 31 August 2026. Participants have the option to join sessions in September, October, or November, providing flexibility for working professionals and students across different time zones and circumstances.
Four Core Competency Areas
The 2026 curriculum is structured around four core competency modules, each addressing a critical dimension of the digital gender divide in Africa:
1. Digital Skills
The digital skills module provides foundational and intermediate training in ICT tools, digital communication, online collaboration platforms, and basic digital security. This module addresses the persistent digital literacy gap that excludes many young Africans, particularly women and girls, from participating in the digital economy. The training is designed to be accessible to participants with varying levels of prior digital exposure, from beginners to those seeking to strengthen existing skills.
2. Entrepreneurship
The entrepreneurship module equips participants with the knowledge and tools to start and manage small businesses, including business planning, market analysis, customer acquisition, and digital marketing. By integrating entrepreneurship training with digital skills, the programme recognises that digital tools are increasingly essential for business success in Africa, where mobile money platforms, social media marketing, and e-commerce are reshaping commercial landscapes.
3. Financial Literacy
The financial literacy module covers personal finance management, budgeting, savings strategies, access to credit, and investment fundamentals. In many African countries, financial literacy rates remain low, particularly among women and youth, limiting their ability to make informed financial decisions and access formal financial services. This module aims to bridge that gap with practical, context-relevant content.
4. Gender Equality in and through Education (STEAM)
The gender equality module addresses the systemic barriers that limit women's and girls' participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) fields. It combines awareness-raising on gender norms and stereotypes with practical strategies for promoting girls' engagement in STEAM education and careers. This module reflects AU CIEFFA's institutional mandate to advance girls' and women's education across the continent.
Programme Design and Delivery
The training is delivered entirely online, removing geographic and financial barriers to participation. This format is particularly significant for a programme targeting all 55 AU Member States, where physical infrastructure, travel costs, and institutional capacity vary enormously. The online model enables a young woman in rural Mali, a university student in Nairobi, and an entrepreneur in Dakar to access the same quality of training without leaving their communities.
The programme is fully funded, meaning there is no cost to participants. This is a critical design feature in a continent where even modest fees can exclude large segments of the target population. The partnership with ImpactHER — an organisation specialising in digital skills training for African women — provides the technical delivery infrastructure and curriculum expertise, while AU CIEFFA provides the continental policy framework, institutional legitimacy, and outreach network through African Union channels.
Track Record and Scaling Trajectory
Since the inception of the AU CIEFFA-ImpactHER partnership, the programme has certified over 12,500 participants from across the continent and beyond. This cumulative reach demonstrates the scalability of the online training model and the demand for digital skills training among African youth.
The fourth edition builds on lessons learned from previous cohorts, with curriculum refinements informed by participant feedback and evolving labour market demands. The programme's growth from an initial pilot to a continent-wide annual training cycle illustrates how digital delivery can overcome the scale challenges that have historically limited African capacity-building initiatives.
The Gender Digital Divide in Context
The programme addresses a well-documented and persistent challenge. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the proportion of women using the internet globally is 8% lower than men, and this gap widens in least developed countries. In sub-Saharan Africa, the gender gap in mobile internet adoption remains significant, with women less likely than men to own mobile phones or have access to mobile internet services.
This digital exclusion has cascading effects on women's economic opportunities, access to information, and participation in civic life. By targeting digital skills alongside entrepreneurship and financial literacy, the AU CIEFFA-ImpactHER programme addresses multiple dimensions of this exclusion simultaneously, recognising that digital access alone is insufficient without the skills, financial knowledge, and confidence to use digital tools productively.
Certification and Network Benefits
Beyond the knowledge gained, participants receive certificates for modules completed upon meeting attendance requirements. These certificates provide formal recognition of skills acquisition that can be presented to employers, used in academic portfolios, or shared on professional networks.
Equally significant is the access participants gain to a pan-African network of peers and experts. This network creates opportunities for cross-border collaboration, mentorship, and knowledge exchange that extend well beyond the formal training period. For many participants, particularly those in isolated or resource-constrained settings, this network represents a valuable professional resource that would be difficult to access through other channels.
The programme also creates potential pathways to future in-person events, including AU CIEFFA convenings and partner-organised conferences and workshops, providing participants with opportunities to deepen their engagement with continental education and gender equality initiatives.
Implications for Continental Education Policy
The AU CIEFFA-ImpactHER partnership exemplifies a model of continental capacity building that leverages digital infrastructure, strategic partnerships, and targeted outreach to achieve scale. For the African Union's broader education agenda, the programme demonstrates that online, fully-funded training can reach tens of thousands of participants across 55 countries — a scale that traditional in-person training models cannot match.
The programme's focus on gender equity in digital skills aligns with the African Union's Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 26-35) and the Decade of Education and Skills Development, launched by the AU in October 2025. It also contributes to the implementation of the Continental TVET Strategy 2025-2034 by building foundational digital competencies that prepare learners for more specialised technical and vocational training.
Sources
- MEnterprise Africa. "AU CIEFFA ImpactHER Online Capacity Building Training 2026."
- Opportunity Tracker Uganda. "Apply for the African Union CIEFFA Online Capacity Building Training 2026."
- FundsforNGOs. "Pan-African Digital Skills and Entrepreneurship Training Programme 2026."
- Scholarship Union. "AU CIEFFA ImpactHER Scholarship 2026 Africa."
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Institutional Research Desk · Foresight Institute of Research and Translation
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