The African Child Academy (ACA) Digital Skills for Inclusive Society project is initiated as a strategic response to Tanzania’s recognition of digital transformation as a key driver of socio-economic development, aligning with the National Five-Year Development Plan (2021/22–2025/26). Despite this vision, Tanzania’s digital sector contributed only about 1.5% to GDP, underscoring the urgency for widespread digital capacity building.
The African Child Academy (ACA) Digital Skills for Inclusive Society project is an initiative in Tanzania aimed at bridging the digital skills gap among children, youth, women, and people living with disabilities (PWDs) as key beneficiaries of the program. These beneficiaries are categorized as employed individuals, Learning institution’s members (university students & staff), school graduates, People under the care of institutions ( PWDs centers, children centers, etc.), local communities (dropouts, self-employed & unemployed), and rural communities ( in schools, local governments & community members).
Beyond Tanzania, ACA stands as an initiative that intends to bridge the digital skills divide existing in individuals from local communities as a response towards 21st century rapid digitalization. With a particular interest in unskilled, underskilled, partly skilled, and progressing skilled, ACA facilitates courses from vast world-class digital skills academies, customizing them to suit the needs of particular beneficiary learners. ACA offers beginner, intermediate, and advanced courses ranging from CyberSecurity, Networking, Information Technology, Programming, Digital Literacy, Professional Skills, and Data Science. For more information on the subject, More information of the.
70% of the Tanzanian population is under 35 years of age. As a young population, youth are the future of the country, yet many are still in a dependency ratio and underutilizing digitalization. From our 2025 Evaluation Report, youth from communities, learning institutions, and the employment sector made up the 70% of the majority beneficiaries. ACA, in response to the existing Government policies accelerating digitalization, contributes to ICT growth among youth through the following initiatives;
Digital Defenders Initiatives (YOUTH): This initiative comprises learning programs targeting youths in higher learning institutions from both ICT and non- ICT background through University clubs where Academies are nonexistent.
University club – Cyber Clubs Career Pathway: This specifically targets initiating cyber clubs in universities with the aim of empowering beneficiaries with Networking + Programming Foundation ( Network basics and Python essentials), Entry Level (CCST Cyber), Summer Camp Project, and Associate (CCNA Cyber Associate).
University club-Network Clubs Career Pathway: This pathway targets in advancely empowering learners towards a networking career pathway through Entry Level (CCST Network), Job Ready skills (IT Customer Support), Summer Camp Project, and Associate Project (CCNA Network) modules.
At our university, we partner with various clubs and empower their members to become instructors. After this, we evaluate their performance in these roles. Together, we then create a manual for their clubs, most of which focus on networking and cybersecurity. However, we offer a broader range of subject areas, including information technology, programming, artificial intelligence, data science, professional skills, and digital literacy.
We also organize an annual program that aligns our clubs with their specific pathways. Each quarter, the clubs concentrate on a particular subject area. Below, you will find the manual guide for the Cybersecurity and Network clubs.
Malkia wa Kidigitali is a program designed to empower women in the ICT sector with professional and practical skills in Cybersecurity and Networking (CCNA) and move women from being participants in ICT to becoming certified architects and guardians of the networks. This program was designed after observing that women made up 18% of our 11305 learners from 2023 – 2025.
Making up over 51% of Tanzania’s population and approximately 49.7% of the world’s 2026 population, statistics indicate that women are digitally underprivileged due to various gender and culture-based constraints.
In response to our vision of Building Digitally Inclusive Societies, the ACA runs two specific and other inclusive women empowerment programs. parallel.
The Digital Powerhouse: Cyber Safety & AI Literacy for Women:
Non- IT Women: The training for non-IT women emphasizes digital literacy through four key modules, namely: general digital awareness, effective use of computers and mobile devices, creating digital content, online communication and collaboration, as well as awareness of digital safety and security. Participants gain foundational knowledge about artificial intelligence (AI), including an introduction to modern AI concepts. The training focuses on leveraging AI as an enabler and advisor, providing valuable insights on crafting effective prompts to achieve desired outcomes. This comprehensive approach aims to empower women with the skills necessary to navigate the digital landscape confidently.
IT Women: The training focuses on empowering women in IT careers and preparing them by upskilling their knowledge through integration in advanced ICT specializations, thus increasing their value in the present and future global ICT ecosystem.
The program proposes a gender-responsive digital empowerment initiative through a hands-on training program. A woman enrolled gains practical training. The training is divided into two cohorts: one focuses on entry-level certification, and the other focuses on the Associate level certifications. For both levels, there are two subject areas, of which learners are required to select one domain, between cybersecurity and networking, for each batch, as the training will go parallel.
For the IT Women, we offer courses through online or in-person venues. We utilize Cisco Network Academy courses, such as the CCST and associate courses in Network and Cybersecurity. Each course lasts five weeks, during which learners receive a certificate of completion. Additionally, participants can obtain necessary discounts on the courses to qualify for international certifications, including CCST and CCNA.
For Non-IT women, we curate content to ensure it aligns with real-world applications. Based on our needs assessment, we can either use Cisco content or develop our own curriculum to better match their requirements. This training can also be delivered virtually or in person, depending on the request.
Children are the most vulnerable group. African communities have one of the highest birth rates in the world. With existing vulnerabilities, technology is a tool for growth and preparations, but also a cyber weapon against children’s vulnerabilities. Upon addressing both matters, ACA consists of basic practical programs to unleash the digital potential by increasing their creativity and safeguarding them from cyber threats through schools, communities, and individual courses.
Digital Pioneer offers two main training programs: one for public secondary schools and one for private secondary schools, as well as a holiday program.
Public Secondary Schools
For public secondary schools, we employ ICT teachers to establish digital clubs. Each club has its own constitution and a training manual. Some of the recommended courses in the manual may require a Trainer of Trainers (TOT) approach, which we provide to empower our ICT teachers in delivering knowledge to the digital clubs.
Throughout the year, we operate in four quarters, with each quarter focusing on a specific program. The Quarter 1 program lays the foundation of digital literacy. In Quarter 2, we provide training on Modern AI. Quarter 3 is dedicated to project-based challenges that cover areas such as system development and robotics. At the end of the year, we host Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which includes cybersecurity training and a Capture the Flag Challenge for our learners.
Private Secondary Schools
For private schools, we offer a dedicated package focused on programming. Our program includes a wide range of programming languages, such as C, C++, Python, JavaScript, as well as markup languages like HTML and CSS. Private schools can request a catalog of our courses, and upon inquiry, we send an invoice. Once accepted, we schedule training sessions either at their school or virtually, based on their preference.
Holiday Program
During holiday periods in March, June, September, and December, we conduct a Robotics Practical Session where young learners can build solutions. This training takes place at our office over a duration of two weeks, with sessions held five days a week.
Location and Pricing
The venue for these sessions is at the African Child Projects Office in Mbezi Goig.
Digital Jamii: this comprises inclusive initiatives targeting local community members in selected areas, preparing them with the effects of rapid digitalization. particularly. The initiative empowers members with Basic Digital Skills and Safe Use of Technology.
Out-of-school youth & children: Through local community empowerment initiatives, we will target children and youth who are out of school through special partnerships with like-minded NGOs and existing hubs in particular communities. This initiative comprises the Digital Skills Empowerment Project (customized according to needs) and Cisco-based courses (Netacad Learnerthon Project, CCNA Practicals, and Summer camp Programs).
PWDs comprise 16% of the global population, where over 80% live in the global south. PWDs are believed to be the most disadvantaged group, with the lowest education level and an over 80% unemployment rate. Particularly, in Tanzania, being part of the global south and southern Sahara, over 4.3 million people live with disabilities. Despite multiple enabling policies and laws, the economic status, education level, and employability of PWDs are still alarmingly low. In addressing the matter, the ACA in the 2025/28 strategic Plan specifically addressed PWDs as a specific group of beneficiaries to be separately addressed despite the previously inclusive outreach. Intending to reach over 500 PWDs by 2028, through digital empowerment trainings, ACA offers the following initiatives;
Other physical disabilities: The program envisions to empower people with physical disabilities related to limbs or any forms as will be determined, with custom selected digital skills , relative to the beneficiary digital needs. The delivery modalities consist of partnering with PWDs-related organizations with capacity to transform deliverables through their personal assistants and special needs instructors.
Visual impairment disabilities (PWDS VI): This course is specifically designed to empower individuals with visual impairment in Basic Computer Skills, consisting of: Computer Basic Course in Computer Case Mastering, Keyboard Orientation, Desktop Mastering (Assistance Technology) and Office Application.
Hearing Impaired disability (PWDS HI): The course is specifically tailored for Associate learners, targeting people with hearing Impaired Disabilities in CCNA-Networking, comprising Networking Fundamentals, IP Addressing and Subnetting, Routing and Switching, Network Security, Network Troubleshooting, and Management.
For individuals with disabilities (PWDs), our training model begins with an instructor who teaches the students.
In our branch in Uganda, I-Hub, all PWDs are mixed in the same class. They have reported that this is a positive experience, as PWDs enjoy interacting with individuals from different categories. For more information, please refer to the PWD course manual, which covers physical, visual, and hearing impairments.
