Akili Za Kesho Ventures · Uganda
Akili Za Kesho Ventures is a Ugandan company with many lines of work: a venture studio, an accredited academy, online labs, specialist services, university partnerships and community events.
Partner or invest with usOur academy is an accredited Cisco Networking Academy, with AFRALTI as our Cisco Academy Support Centre.
Our numbers so far
Incorporated in Uganda in October 2025 · Accredited Cisco Networking Academy · No equity taken in the people we help grow.
What we do
Akili Za Kesho Ventures is the parent company. Each line of work feeds the next: learners become builders, builders become founders, and founders get the support to last.
We stay with founders past year one.
Most businesses here fail while scaling, not at the start. Our venture studio gives founders mentors, shared tools and long-term support. We take no equity in the people we help grow.
Skills you can prove, learned by building.
Hands-on courses with mentors and real projects. Free to apply, pay only after acceptance.
Practise anywhere, in your browser.
60 hands-on labs in networking, cybersecurity, AI and IoT, with an AI coach and certificates anyone can verify.
Eight hubs. Proven on us first.
Our Innovations Round Table sells the same expertise we use to run our own company, as training, services or support for a founder.
We work with universities, not inside them.
We run innovation programmes with universities and hubs as partners, and bring our academy and labs to their students.
Where people meet, learn and pitch.
Hackathons, founder talks, workshops, field visits and our podcast, open to students, builders and the wider community.
Live instruction, hands-on labs in Packet Tracer, and a Cisco course certificate.
Every Monday
5:30 – 8:30 PM
East Africa Time, UTC+3
Course runs
26 Oct – 30 Nov
2026
Six sessions
18 hours
of live teaching
Track one
Network fundamentals, switching, routing and IP addressing — with Cisco Packet Tracer labs every week.
Apply free
Track two
Threats, attacks and defences, the tools used against them, and the careers this opens.
Apply free
Open to beginners · Join from anywhere · Taught by Edison Kagona, Senior Certified Instructor, Cisco Networking Academy
WhatsApp us to joinOur first cohorts · 2024
Real rooms, real laptops, real mentors. Before incorporating in October 2025, our founding team ran these bootcamps with the CUU Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. These photos are from those first bootcamps and mentorship sessions in 2024.
Accreditation & partners
Cisco Networking Academy
Accredited academy
AFRALTI
Cisco Academy Support Centre
Cavendish University Uganda
University partner
Bishop Stuart University
Supporting university
Innovation Village Hub
Workshop partner
In partnership with
Leaders Who BuildAlex Snider · Founder Mentor & Strategic Advisor, CUU Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
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Master By Doing
Go beyond theory and build a production-ready portfolio through mentored, independent projects — every specialised track anchored to a real-world Sustainable Development Goal. Tackle real engineering challenges with seasoned professionals and turn your technical mastery into measurable impact.
Apply to a TrackOur learning platform
Step into the Akili Za Kesho virtual studio: guided, hands-on labs grounded in real East African cases — from mobile-money fraud to the maize harvest — with an AI coach beside you.
No card needed to start. Works in your browser.
Real simulations you build, break and fix — not slides.
Networks, ethical hacking, cyber defence, AI, machine learning and IoT.
Guides your thinking step by step instead of handing you answers.
Earn a Certificate of Competency by passing a graded challenge.
Robotics
Our learners design and simulate robots for real problems, then prove a human did the thinking: they rebuild it unaided and solve a fresh problem.
How it works
Cisco Academy courses, the 4IR internship, or a mentored project track — pick what fits your goals.
A short form, no fee to apply. We review every application and reply by email. You only pay once you're accepted.
Hands-on labs, real projects and mentors — finishing with course certificates, digital badges and a portfolio you can show.
Upcoming Events
Future-focused sessions, workshops, bootcamps, hackathons and masterclasses.
Session 3 · The Scaling Trap (Investor Session)
The series so far
Partner or invest
We work with investors, funders, universities and companies. Tell us what you want to achieve and we will send a proposal that fits.
Back a venture studio that stays with founders through the hard years. We share our plan and numbers in a private meeting.
Request a meetingBring the academy, the labs or an innovation centre to your campus, run with us as partners.
Work with usSponsor learners, train your team, or hire our specialist hubs for a project.
Explore servicesQuote first: we agree the scope with you, then the price. There is no public price list for partners.
director@akilizakesho.comOur Context
We work alongside Uganda's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MoSTI) to help close the gap between a young, fast-growing population and the skilled talent East Africa's economy needs. Aligned with Uganda’s Vision 2040, we transform potential into practical capability through hands-on project engineering, Cisco courses and capacity building equipping software engineers and innovators with future-ready skills to build sustainable tech solutions across East Africa.
60%
Population Under 18
32M
People in Uganda
51%
Female Population
90%
Private Sector ( Micro/Small Enterprise )
From Our Leadership
“I believe Africa's future will be built by its own innovators. Every virtual lab, every mentorship session, and every hands-on project we run is designed to put real tools in the hands of young Africans and let them build the solutions this continent actually needs.”
Edison Kagona
Founder & Managing Director, Akili Za Kesho
In the Field
From robotics championships to community engagement and hands-on learning, see what innovation looks like on the ground across East Africa.
Innovators Roundtable
2026 Cohort
WRO 2025
Climate Action (ACS2)
Workshop Day
WRO 2025 Gratitude
Community Engagement
Bamboo Innovations
Partner voices
“Akili Za Kesho represents exactly the kind of grassroots innovation ecosystem Africa needs to build investor-ready talent.”
Nshuti Elve
Investors Club Ltd
“Their approach to bridging technology and nature is not just visionary, it is the model for sustainable African development.”
Elizabeth S. Glenn
US Africa Collaborative
“I have rarely seen a programme that so effectively combines technical rigour with real-world community impact at this scale.”
John Brittell
Venture Partner
“The 4IR internship cohort is producing graduates who are genuinely ready for the demands of the modern digital economy.”
Ruth Karachi Benson Oji
Associate Professor, Digital Media
“What sets Akili Za Kesho apart is their unwavering commitment to sustainability and community-centred innovation.”
Katherine Lacefield
Founder, Just Be Cause Consulting
“Edison and his team have built something special, a platform where African talent can finally compete and win on the global stage.”
Alex Snider
Strategic Growth Architect
Questions
Yes. We are an accredited Cisco Networking Academy, in affiliation with The African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (AFRALTI) — our official Cisco Academy Support Center (ASC) — alongside academic partners Bishop Stuart University and Cavendish University Uganda.
About the Cisco Academy →Our hub is in Mukono District, Uganda. You can also learn online on our learning platform — 60 hands-on labs across six tracks, with an AI coach — from anywhere.
Open the learning platform →Choose a programme and apply online — there is no fee to apply. We review every application and reply by email. Fees are only due once you are accepted, and you receive an invoice and receipt.
Browse programmes →Yes — every Cisco Academy course ends with a Cisco course certificate and digital badge, and on our learning platform you earn a verifiable Certificate of Competency by passing a graded challenge. We focus on training: certification exams (for example CCNA) are taken separately — for example at our partner AFRALTI.
Yes — we partner with institutions on training, internships and innovation programmes. Tell us what you need and we will put together a proposal.
Partner with us →Still have a question? Contact us
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