BusinessDay
Remi Feyisipo
August 6, 2026
STEMi Makers of Africa has secured $2.5 million in seed funding from the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs to expand Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in Africa.
The fund, recently secured by STEMi, is a ten-year partnership aimed at supporting the development of teachers and expanding learning platforms where over 3,000 STEM resources, practical exercises, case studies and lab work can be assessed by teachers as teaching materials and used to enhance students’ learning experiences.
With the ten-year funding, the organisation stated that it is committed to revolutionising traditional curricula to meet the demands of the 21st century, improve teaching methodologies, while ensuring students are equipped with the STEM skills to compete on a global level.
STEMi stated that it intends to upskill and impart educators in Africa to effect change in their teaching practices and introduce them to the evolving nuances of human capital development skills and STEM applications within their subject area by gaining familiarity of correlation among other related subjects in STEM
Amanda Obidike, the Founder and Executive Director of STEMi Makers of Africa, noted that as the need for skilled professionals in STEM grows, this investment positions the organisation as a key player in shaping the workforce of the future, helping young African talents to achieve their career aspirations while contributing to the economic advancement of their communities.

“This funding round marks an exciting new chapter for STEMi Makers of Africa as it continues its mission to transform education to practical learning and project-based work in STEM education that can guarantee that young talents transition from education to meaningful and lucrative employment in STEM careers,” she said.
She added that the social impact investment underscores a growing recognition of the organisation’s mission to bridge the STEM skills and STEM underrepresentation gap in Africa by giving teachers the foundational tools and resources to prepare the younger generation of innovators and leaders.
Obidike said they are on a mission to empower a talent base of 2,000,000 young Africans with emerging technologies and real-world problem-solving skills to excel in STEM pathways, shape the future of work, and contribute to the development of Africa’s changing workforce by 2030.

“The future of Africa lies in the hands of its young talents, but the lack of practical learning and adequate skills for the future of work has been reported to be one of the factors impeding young talents in responding to current and future industry needs, which is why the continent remains mid-developed.
“It has been predicted that by 2030, almost half of the world’s youth will be in Africa, as the number of youths on the African continent will have increased to 42 per cent. This means that the number of young people entering the workforce each year will join millions of others to search for better sources of livelihood,” she said.

She further said that educators — teachers, trainers, and mentors — play a crucial role in this process because they are the ones who can unlock the potential of youths, providing them with the skills they need to navigate the future.
On the other hand, however, she added that nine in eleven educators (nearly 85% in West and Eastern Africa) do not have access to practical teaching tools, project-based learning resources, and improved knowledge on STEM curriculum needed to be integrated in the 21st-century classrooms.
She further revealed that Africa needs an additional 23 million STEM graduates by 2030 to fill critical roles in engineering, healthcare, information technology, and related sectors, stressing that the gap between where the continent stands today and where it needs to be by the end of this decade is enormous.
“This leaves a significant number of our youth without adequate education or skills and uncertain about their future,” she said.
STEMi Makers of Africa has, in the past, awarded multiple United States government agency grants on Upskilling of Educators in STEM, International Telecommunication Union, Mastercard Foundation, Microsoft and Google in Botswana, Tanzania, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda and Cabo Verde.

Obidike said that through those impact investments, the organisation had refined over 10,500 educators’ instructional pedagogy, where over 270,000 students grew to solve ill-defined problems and make real-world connections, while deepening content knowledge and preparing them for STEM careers.

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