Career-ready engineers
Academy devs learn by building: working in teams, meeting professional standards, and shipping real software from week one.
Impact
Real people. Real skills. Real jobs.
The Academy program helps African devs build professional skills, ship products, and create opportunity closer to home.
/impact
Not every project survives. Every skill does.
Since 2021, ACA has helped developers turn technical ability into careers, products, and companies across Southern Africa.
79
Developers trained
65 graduates and 14 devs in the 2026 cohort
28
Jobs created
Through the Academy and Foundry
27
Products built
Across Academy cohorts from 2021 through 2025
9/10
Rate ACA's impact highly
Participants call it significant or exceptional for their careers
How impact grows
Skills become products, jobs, and companies.
ACA connects intensive engineering practice to the opportunities that follow: stronger careers, useful products, and locally led ventures.
Products with purpose
Teams turn ideas into working products, customer pilots, and ventures shaped around real needs in their communities.
Opportunity at home
Graduates move into paid roles, strengthen local product teams, and help build companies that create more opportunity across the region.
Alumni
Our impact is visible through our graduates.
ACA alumni carry the program into jobs, product teams, and local startup work across Botswana, Lesotho, and the broader region.
2021 · Botswana
Amogelang Tshukudu
UI / UX Designer
"Planning is great, doing is the best part."
2021 · Lesotho
Bulane Naeo
Graduate
"Believe in yourself and hang on to your dream."
2021 · Botswana
Gakegakwe Kgojwa
Front End Engineer
"Consistency is key."
2021 · Botswana
Katlego Gaebolae
Graduate
"Elegance in code is not just about efficiency, it is about making it clear for the next developer."
2021 · Lesotho
Lereko Foloko
Graduate
2021 · Lesotho
Mafusi Mashaile
Graduate
"Software comes from heaven when you have the right resources."
2021 · Lesotho
Majoro Futhoane
Graduate
2021 · Botswana
Tito Mike Mmokele
Quality Assurance Engineer
"I am not lazy, I am on energy-saving mode."
Where it started
The 2021 pilot proved the model
In 2021, during pandemic restrictions, ACA partnered with Botho University and the Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) to offer free, remote, hands-on software engineering training inside a real-world startup environment.
The remote fall 2021 cohort brought together 16 Botho University devs. It started with a month of onboarding in coding standards, communication, and continuous learning.
Startup Week followed, with devs developing, pitching, and presenting product ideas. Teams then spent the remaining months working through guided coding sprints to deliver a live product.
Testimonials
Success Stories
Read how ACA programs help promising devs build professional confidence, strengthen technical skills, and move into paid work. Thank you to Botho University for providing many of these testimonials.
Tito Mike Mmokele
Alumni · Quality Assurance Engineer
"The experience molded me as I advanced in my engineering career. It helped me do things I did not know I could do."
Amogelang Tshukudu
Alumni · UI / UX Designer
"The program gave me ultimate hands-on training, supportive mentors, and standards that go beyond design, code, and tests."
Gakegakwe Kgojwa
Alumni · Front End Engineer
"ACA introduced me to high standards of software development and helped me master practices used worldwide."
Dr. Srinath Doss
2021 Partner Testimonial · Dean of Computer Science · Botho University
"The internship helped students gain confidence, new technical skills, articulation, critical thinking, and teamwork."
Video
Alumni stories show the people behind the outcomes.
Alumni and partner reflections show how technical growth becomes confidence, employment, and local opportunity.
Action
Support more developer outcomes.
Your donation helps more African developers build production-ready skills, ship real products, and create opportunities closer to home.