of applicants already used AI at work.
Field-tested with 70 fellows across 22 countries
AI Literacy Fellowship for African Policymakers
The field-tested AI policy fellowship playbook.
Design, deliver and sustain a rigorous fellowship that helps African policymakers move from AI awareness to practical policy action.
Open-access guide 11 practical chapters Built from Cohort 1
870applications
70fellows selected
55graduates
22countries reached
40%women graduates
Official open-access publication
The complete Replication Playbook
A 74-page, field-tested guide to designing, delivering and sustaining an AI literacy fellowship for African policymakers.
Start here
This is an implementation guide, not a victory lap.
It records what was designed, what actually happened, what consumed more time than expected, and what the next team should do differently.
The policy problem
AI adoption is moving faster than institutional readiness.
The clearest signal was not a lack of AI use. It was a lack of rules, confidence and meaningful participation in policy design.
had helped shape AI policy.
Equip leaders with literacy. Connect them into a trusted network. Give them tools to write policy, not merely discuss it.
Policy democratisation, made practical.
01Frame the context→
02Judge trade-offs→
03Apply to sectors→
04Produce policy
Cohort 1 at a glance
A demanding program built around practice.
Foundational knowledge moved to self-paced study so scarce live time could focus on debate, contextual judgement and hands-on work.
weeks
A four-month arc supported by recordings.
activities
Lectures, workshops, masterclasses and courses.
hours weekly
A realistic but demanding commitment.
completion bars
Attendance, courses and capstone delivery.
Design decision
Do not lower the bar to solve attrition. Build flexibility into how serious participants can meet it.
The complete roadmap
Eleven chapters, one replication journey.
Read end to end for a new program, or jump to the decision in front of you.
01→02→03→04→05→06→07→08→09→10→11→
The case & origin
Why should this fellowship exist?
Read chapterDesign principles
What should guide every decision?
Read chapterProgram architecture
How does learning become policy capability?
Read chapterRecruitment & selection
How do you build a credible, balanced cohort?
Read chapterThe capstone engine
What will fellows produce together?
Read chapterCohort experience
How does a group become a network?
Read chapterPeople & operations
What does delivery truly require?
Read chapterEvaluation & outcomes
How will you know the fellowship worked?
Read chapterSustainability & afterlife
What remains after graduation?
Read chapterTemplates & resources
What can another team reuse?
Read chapterWhat we learned
What should the next cohort change?
Read chapterFrom capstones to open policy resources
African AI Governance Resources
Explore the Cohort 1 Capstone Project Portfolio and five open publications developed to support the design, debate, teaching and implementation of context-relevant AI governance. Together, the collection translates fellows’ national and sectoral policy work into practical resources that policymakers, educators, researchers, civil society organisations and development partners can freely use and adapt.
8Cohort 1 Capstone Projects
5Open AI Governance Publications
Foundational source collection
Cohort 1 Capstone Project Portfolio
The foundational collection of eight policy projects developed by Cohort 1 fellows in response to national and sectoral AI governance challenges across Africa.
Policy researchCapstone portfolio
Five open publications
Derived from, synthesised from or designed around the Cohort 1 capstone work.
Product 01Published on Zenodo
National governance blueprint
National AI Governance Blueprint for the Republic of Ubuntia: Governing AI for Equity, Innovation and Sovereignty
A comprehensive national policy blueprint for governing AI in the fictional Republic of Ubuntia through an inclusive, rights-respecting and context-responsive framework.
Policy design
Product 02Published on Zenodo
AI policy toolkit
AI Policy Design and Implementation Toolkit: Twenty-five connected instruments for the ACTION policy lifecycle
A connected suite of 25 practical instruments supporting policy teams across the ACTION policy lifecycle, from design and diagnosis to implementation, oversight, learning and adaptation.
Implementation
Product 03Published on Zenodo
Evidence-to-action policy briefs
Four First-Wave Policy Briefs: Evidence-to-action choices for responsible AI governance in the Republic of Ubuntia
Four coordinated policy briefs addressing governance and digital sovereignty, finance and inclusion, agriculture and food systems, and health and well-being.
Policy debate
Product 04Published on Zenodo
AI policy simulation casebook
The Ubuntia AI Policy Simulation Casebook: Four cases in AI governance and public policy
Four simulation-based cases for teaching and debating difficult AI governance decisions involving public procurement, justice, finance and agriculture.
Includes Participant and Facilitator volumes. Ubuntia is a fictional teaching context.
TeachingPolicy simulation
Product 05Published on Zenodo
Selective pilot portfolio
Selective AI Policy Pilot Portfolio: A method and eighteen instruments for deciding which AI pilots should proceed
A decision-and-delivery method supported by 18 practical instruments for selecting, authorising, monitoring, adapting, scaling or responsibly closing AI policy pilots.
Pilot governance
Open-use note. The publications are openly available for use and adaptation under the licence specified in each Zenodo record. Users should review the relevant attribution, third-party rights and responsible-adaptation guidance before reuse.
The working toolkit
From reading to replication.
Browse and open all 27 artefacts used across planning, selection, delivery, evaluation and graduation.
Official publication
Full replication playbook
Read the published 74-page Cohort 1 edition, preserved on Zenodo.
Read the Playbook →The V-Team
Built by volunteers, sustained by commitment.
Fifteen core volunteers met every Saturday for roughly seven months before delivery, supported by technical advisors. Their time belongs in the program’s true cost.
Engr. Abba Muhammad Gadanya
Project Team Lead / Executive Director
Najeeb G. Abdulhamid, PhD
Co-Lead, Policy & Program Alignment
Dr (Engr.) Alhassan Haruna Umar
Program Quality & Academic Lead
Abdulrahman Hayatu
ICT Systems & Platform Manager
Mrs Hauwa Shehu
Visual Communications Designer
Dr Bashir I. Dodo
Research & Technical Advisory
Mr Ahmad Abdullahi Ahmad
Program Support / Operations
Yusuf Adam Khalil
Curriculum Development
Abubakar Manga
Resource Strategy & Governance
Dr Zakiyyu Muhammad
Data Protection & Legal Advisory
Fatima Abdulkadir Jidda
Group Administration
Salim Ibrahim
Group Administration
Mr Abubakar Salisu
Group Administration
Dr. Rislan Abdulazeez Kanya
Fellowship Technical Advisor 1
Dr Sani Abba
Fellowship Technical Advisor 2