Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become an important tool in today’s world that is used in all aspects of life, it is crucial to empower the African youth and enable them to use new advanced technologies in their daily activities and to be contributors rather than only recipients of knowledge.

In 2002, SchoolNet Africa

established Mtandao–Afrika as an African chapter of the ThinkQuest International program, designed to expand the use of Internet as a learning tool in Africa, the contest was initially tilted “ThinkQuest Africa” aiming at encouraging and rewarding African youth for developing educational websites of exceptional quality for use by other students everywhere around the world.

Mtandao-Afrika was foreseen also as an opportunity to contribute to the global knowledge, noting the scarcity of African produced content on the Internet. Mtandao- Afrika encourages the production of websites reflecting the face and identity of Africa both in terms of content and local languages, thus preserving a great heritage from extinction. The websites cover several aspects and address the major challenges that address the African continent including health, education, poverty, culture, geography, wealth, political systems, languages etc.

A team of 2-4 students work together through the cyber space with the support of 1-2 coaches who are educators, teachers or graduate students or parents.

Mtandao-Afrika is about youth empowerment, it focuses on the enhancement of management and leadership skills for the African learners thus preparing them for the work force and to become active players in the global economy and in shaping the futures of their countries. Within the course of the competition, learners are faced with real life challenges including decision making, time management, communicating across cultures, project management, tolerance and understanding. These are all required skills in today’s global market.

Mtandao-Afrika is implemented in Uganda by SchoolNet Uganda.
You can obtain more information about Mtandao-Afrika by sending an email to info@schoolnetuganda.sc.ug or by visiting Mtandao-Afrika website www.mtandao-afrika.org