The African Union has deployed and onboarded the 2^nd cohort of the AU Digital and Innovation Fellowship. The 19 Young Innovators from 10 countries across the continent will serve in various African Union Commission Departments and AU Organs for a period of 12 months. The Fellowship promotes youth’s participation in governance while harnessing technological innovations in addressing governance and development challenges in Africa. Thus, contributing to the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 1 Million Next Level Initiative.

Implemented by the African Union Commission’s directorate of Women, Gender, and Youth, in partnership with GIZ Office to the African Union and Afrilabs, the AU Digital and Innovation Fellowship is a robust program which identifies and deploys highly competent tech innovators from the African continent to units and organs within the African Union as ‘Resident Fellows’. The Fellows identify data management challenges within the systems of their host units and solve the challenges identified by co-creating and building sustainable innovative tailor-made products and processes. The solutions proposed by the Fellows have proven to improve data management processes and the overall work of the AU.

One of the highlights of the AU Digital and Innovation Fellowship is the capacity and team building workshop that equipped the Fellows with a strong foundation for impactful contributions to AU’s Management Information Systems landscape. Hosted at the African Union Headquarters, the workshop also provided an opportunity for relationship-building and peer-learning.

The AU Digital and Innovation Fellowship Program stems from AU’s endorsement of the Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa aimed at leveraging digital technologies to promote integration, economic growth, job creation, and poverty eradication. The second cohort of the AU Digital and Innovation Fellowship is deployed at the heels of the establishment of the AU Innovation Lab, a converging platform for multistakeholder input into Africa’s innovation landscape.  

For further information, please contact: 

Mr. Daniel Adugna | Youth Programme Officer, Women, Gender and Youth Directorate | African Union Commission | E-mail: adugnad@africanunion.org

Ms. Arlette Akingeneye | Women, Gender and Youth Directorate | African Union Commission | E-mail: AkingeneyeA@africa-union.org

Information and Communication Directorate, African Union Commission I E-mail: DIC@africa-union.org
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