MoU Signed with National Commission on Research Science and Technology (NCRST) of Namibia
We’re pleased to share that Kigumi has signed an MoU with the National Commission on Research Science and Technology (NCRST) of Namibia on KiguLab’s AI and Human Intelligence trainings for children and youth. The NCRST, a part of the Ministry of Education (MoE) of Namibia, is the leading body in the country to promote innovative and independent thinking and the optimum development of intellectual capacity of citizens in research, science and technology.
We’re honored to be working with the team at NCRST to support Namibia in cultivating responsible and proportionate usage of AI tools in the next generation of Namibian children and talent.
Our multi-phase MoU lays out an exciting long-term plan to upskill Namibian youth in AI and human intelligences, starting with university students - who urgently need foundational AI-human intelligence trainings before they’re released into the workforce - and working backwards in successive phases in the upcoming year to bring the curriculum to secondary school students.
Inclusive and Accessible AI Literacy Education for Youth
Already built into the MoU is our joint commitment to accessible and inclusive AI ethics education for children and youth of all backgrounds. Drawing on Namibia’s already strong history as a regional leader in women’s leadership (it’s the only country in the world where women currently occupy the top three highest government positions and the majority of cabinet seats are held by women), we’ve designed the second phase of our roll out to bring KiguLab into rural schools in Namibia with a focus on upskilling and prepping the next generation of female STEM talent and female leaders beginning from primary school.
This isn’t just focusing on girls / women’s STEM education as a “trend”.
12 years ago, I had the privilege to be part of the founding team of the Asian Women’s Leadership University College (AWLUC), an all women’s liberal arts leadership university based in South-East Asia (Penang, specifically). One lesson we’ve learned from projects like the AWLUC is that investing in education and empowerment of young girls and opening doors to their creativity, intellect and ability to self-direct their own learning isn’t charity. It’s strategic. It’s one of the best investments in reducing intergenerational poverty, driving long term climate change action, reducing child mortality & malnutrition, and a host of other tricky problems.
I’m so grateful to NCRST that they’re allowing me to bring this lens into the work I do with Kigumi and AI education, a decade after my time with the AWLUC.
Making this phase possible for girls and young women in Namibia is going to take a lot of cross sector collaboration - we need a village to achieve this and are grateful to already have the support of partners like Co-Axis Network (Temasek Foundation) to help spread the word.
We’re actively looking for foundations and NGOs with experience deploying programmes and services to women and girls in the global south and IDBs to help us design impact assessment metrics to join us in this vision for girls in AI beginning in 2026, starting with the Namibian project.
If you’d like to have a chat to see how you can get involved with this exciting project for young women and AI upskilling, please email us at info@kigumigroup.com.
