Call for Innovators: Innovating Education in Africa 2026

The African Union is inviting innovators from across the continent to submit proposals for practical, scalable solutions that address Africa’s pressing education and skills development challenges. The initiative aims to identify and support innovations that can be sustained, replicated, and scaled while fostering collaboration among innovators, governments, and educational institutions.

Why This Matters

Despite progress in recent years, Africa’s education and training systems continue to face significant challenges. Millions of children and youth remain out of school, with girls disproportionately affected. Teacher shortages, limited professional development opportunities, outdated curricula, and a mismatch between education outcomes and labor market needs reduce learning quality and hinder employability. At the post-basic level, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) faces structural constraints, including limited digital integration, insufficient green and climate-responsive skills training, and inadequate incorporation of Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies. Higher education institutions also face challenges, including limited research capacity, weak innovation ecosystems, and insufficient mechanisms for knowledge transfer and commercialization.

Addressing these issues requires innovative, cost-effective, scalable solutions that are tailored to Africa’s context. Innovations should strengthen teacher training, transform higher education, modernize TVET, enhance industry partnerships, digitalize learning systems, and build green skills ecosystems. They must also align with continental priorities, including the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2034) and the AU Continental AI Strategy, ensuring ethical, inclusive, and governance-conscious use of AI in education.

Key Objectives

The IEA 2026 initiative seeks to:

Identify critical education and skills gaps across Africa
Scale innovative, high-impact education solutions
Strengthen partnerships across sectors, including government, academia, and industry
Advance policy dialogue aligned with continental frameworks such as CESA 26–35, CTVET-34, and STISA-2034
Support AI integration in education responsibly and inclusively
Promote research commercialization and development of STI infrastructure

Thematic Focus Areas for 2026

The 2026 Call particularly welcomes innovations in the following areas:

1. Basic and Secondary Education

Foundational literacy and numeracy technologies
Teacher professional development innovations
AI-enabled assessment and adaptive learning
Inclusive and gender-responsive education technologies

2. Higher Education and STI Ecosystems

University-industry innovation hubs
Research commercialization platforms
Digital universities and hybrid learning ecosystems
Robotics and advanced STEM centres of excellence
STI infrastructure for education, including laboratories, incubators, and science parks

3. TVET and Skills Development

Digital and AI-integrated TVET training models
Robotics, automation, and advanced manufacturing training
Green and climate-responsive skills development
Industry-led apprenticeship and dual training systems
Skills mobility and certification frameworks aligned with AfCFTA

4. AI, Robotics, and Emerging Technologies in Education

Robotics labs in schools and TVET institutions
AI-powered skills forecasting tools
Simulation-based technical training systems
Innovation hubs for youth tech entrepreneurship
AI ethics, governance, and data privacy in education

Impact Since Inception

Since 2018, Innovating Education in Africa has:

Engaged over 1,500 education stakeholders
Promoted 180 education innovations
Mobilized up to USD 1 million to support scaling and validation

Application Details

Deadline for submissions: 30th April 2026
Eligibility: Innovators from across Africa with practical, scalable solutions in the thematic areas outlined above
Application Link: Submit Your Innovation

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the transformation of African education systems, improve skills development, and foster innovation that will prepare learners for the jobs and challenges of the future.