Johannesburg, South Africa – May 21, 2024 – The Skills Initiative for Africa Financial Cooperation (SIFA FC) is an African Union Commission intervention implemented by the African Union Development Agency and supported by the German Government and the European Union through KfW Development Bank, successfully conducted a three-day long capacity-building workshop from May 16 to 18, 2024. The workshop took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, and aimed to prepare 12 EU SIFA Innovation Funding Window III grantees for their project implementation.

The workshop's primary goal was to ensure that the grantees who have developed innovative skills development solutions in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) are equipped and ready to implement their projects over the next 18 months. These projects are designed to enhance the accessibility, relevance, and recognition of skills for employability across Africa.

The event brought together 12 grantees from eight countries: Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Togo, and Tunisia. The participants represent a diverse group of professional TVET entities from the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society.

Key workshop sessions covered essential topics such as contractual obligations, reporting requirements, monitoring and evaluation processes, communication and marketing protocols, taking training online into the digital space, and market validation for grantee innovations. One of the notable activities was the simulation exercise, where grantees practised pitching their innovations to a panel of investors, highlighting their projects' potential as catalysts for future growth.

Reflecting on the workshop, Joel Ngankam from AGO-PME Fondation in Cameroon shared his positive experience: "The content was incredibly rich, providing a strong foundation for the next steps of our project. The most gratifying aspect, however, was connecting and exchanging ideas with fellow grantees and country coordinators from different origins. These interactions were hugely helpful, especially as we prepare for upcoming milestones."

Joseph Mwangi Wamuga, Project Coordinator for the SKITWALL project at Nakuru Training Institute in Kenya, added: "In my over 10 years’ experience in donor-funded projects, this is unparalleled, where grantees are trained on the project requirements and meet each other, more so from different countries to share their ideas and learn together. I am now better equipped to implement my [project].”