Meet the People Behind Digital Skills for Africa
8 November 2026
Happy STEM Day! 🌍💙
Whether you joined Digital Skills for Africa years ago, or created your account this week, we are so glad you could join us in our mission of training the next 1 million Africa’s Tech Giants!
Today, we are taking you behind the system to introduce the people, programmes and partnerships that helped build DSA.
Our journey: 2018–2026
Our founder, Ms. Nthanda Manduwi, began sharing practical lessons on managing personal and business brands online through a YouTube platform called Digi Savvy. What started as digital storytelling and YouTube education developed into an online learning initiative, driven by a growing realization: the digital skills gap extended far beyond branding.
Through the Ntha Foundation and Kwathu Kollective, we developed training programmes and innovation spaces. With US$250,000 awarded under the Malawi Government’s World Bank-financed Digital Malawi Project, we expanded Digi Savvy’s learning platform and developed hubs in Lilongwe and Mangochi. In 2021, the platform received Malawi’s EdTech Innovation of the Year recognition by the ICT Association of Malawi.
Trainers developed digital learning content, learners tested courses and assessments, and teams refined our delivery model. By the end of the Digital Malawi implementation, 647 young people had received in-person training in digital, entrepreneurship and e-work skills.
Our work continued through university apprenticeships, entrepreneurship fellowships, digital skills workshops, creative industry programmes, school collaborations and new training cohorts. Each experience helped us understand how to make learning more practical, accessible and relevant.
This year, we’ve been rebuilding Digital Skills for Africa’s learning and membership infrastructure to support a much larger community and a more personalized, self-paced learning experience. On 1 November, we opened applications for our 2027 AI & Digital Skills Scholarship.
Our Programmers, Trainers, and Mentors
Several cohorts of computer scientists from the Malawi University of Science and Technology have contributed to projects across our innovation ecosystem. We are grateful for the work of each and every single one of them. Their experiences continue to inform how we design learning for different audiences.
M’mawa Apprentices
From early Digi Savvy product managers to later technology and systems-development teams, the various cohorts’ work reflects our commitment to learning by doing.
Nyenyezi Fellows
Two cohorts of aspiring entrepreneurs have explored how to turn ideas into sustainable ventures through mentorship, business development and practical experimentation.
DSA Trainers and Mentors
Educators, creatives, facilitators and project teams have helped create and deliver 100+ digital skills and business development courses, and community workshops.
Our Next Chapter: US$27 million in Scholarship Learning Access for 5,400 Learners 🌍
Before launching the 2027 Ntha Foundation AI Scholarship, our wider programmes had already reached more than 10,000 young people, and reaching 2026, we had 1,679 registered learners via our e-learning system.
Within the past week, we have now:
- 3000+ registered learners
- 800+ scholarship applications
- Applicants based in 35 countries and counting!
We are working closely with partners in government, philanthropy, academia, and private sector to ensure we reach all the 54 African nations, and expand access even further.
Our ambition is to mobilize support for 5,400 scholarships
at least 100 learners from each of Africa’s 54 UN-member countries.
It is an ambitious target, and we welcome your collaboration.
We are grateful for the partners who haveworked with us through the past 8 years
Join us in the Mission to train 1 Million by 2030
Already registered but haven’t applied?
Please complete your scholarship application. Your responses help us understand what you want to learn, how much time you can dedicate and what support would help you succeed.
Already applied?
Share the opportunity with your LinkedIn network and tag Digital Skills for Africa. Share the links with your siblings, friends, classmates, colleagues and communities.
Someone in your network may be looking for exactly this opportunity.
New to Digital Skills for Africa?
Create your free account, explore the platform and apply for the Ntha Foundation AI & Digital Skills Scholarship, valued at US$5,000 per eligible learner in funded learning access.
Call for Applications: Digital Skills for Africa – 2027 AI Scholarship – Fill out form
Applications close 1 December 2026
Thank you to every learner, trainer, fellow, apprentice, partner and collaborator who has helped bring us this far.
Let’s keep learning. Let’s keep building. 💙
The Digital Skills for Africa Team
Work with Kwathu
Explore the people, ideas, and conversations shaping our work across Africa and beyond. From digital skills and entrepreneurship to creative industries, emerging technologies, and systems innovation, our video library documents the journey of building opportunities for Africa's innovators and creators.
Innovations in [Youth] Skilling and Employment | Youth Connekt Summit
Ntha Foundation
