About Us
GRIT Lab Africa was founded in 2016 by Professor Ade-Ibjola as a social project for training young Africans in grit and programming. Abejide mentors 116 young people across 38 higher institutions of learning in 11 African countries. The Kingsman Academic is an identity that symbolizes a person who is able to transcend the divisions in society, continuously acquire future-fit skills, solve for society using technology, and help others. GRIT Lab Africa is a non-profit program for training such young people across Africa.
Why GLA?
- Not a conventional classroom: The focus is on skills needed by the industry in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
- Hands-on 4IR skills training: Introductory programming, data structures, and algorithms, web, mobile, and game development, data science, and machine learning, etc.
- Iron sharpens iron: Mentees will meet and interact with the brightest minds.
- Africa royalty: United and confident young Africans. Mentees learn how to be royal, confident, while co-solving with other Africans and interacting with stakeholders.
- Exposure and access: To the network of the founder (Industry and Academia) and to a community of the best minds.
- Vaildation: The founder (a professor and subject matter expert) will certify the expertise of trainees when they become competent.
- Family: Be part of a family across Africa.
- Employment: Job creation, and/or Start-up incubation.
- Worthiness: Worthiness in learning, character, GRIT, with consciousness for social impact.
2000+
593
+R 28 million
Students trained since 2016
Grit-ers across 11 countries
Worth of free training offered in 2023
100%
25 countries
38 institutions
Graduate Employment Rate
Historical Reach
Higher Institutional Reach
What Has GLA Done ?
- Has forged the smartest, most hardworking and persevering young people.
- Reduced unemployment (equipping all participants with skills to create mobile/web pages, video games, etc.) with a 100% employment rate after the program.
- Paid out up to R22,000 per month for work-integrated learning at undergraduate level, and up to R37 500 per month to fresh graduates leaving the regiment and entering the software industry.
- Brought back the ‘old-school’ discipline in young Africans.
- Created a united community of Africans from diverse backgrounds, races, and cultures.
Awards
Winner at the South Africa’s Department of Public
Service (DPSA) Ignite Hack Innovation Award 2018
Winner of SA Department of Communications Living
4IR Hackathon Overall Best Innovation of 2019
Two-time Winner of the UJ Vice-Chancellor’s
Distinguished Awards for the Innovation of the year
2019 (Valued at R500,000.00), and Teacher Excellence
Winner of Two South Africa’s State IT Agency (SITA)
Public Service Innovation Awards in 2019
2-Time Finalist: Africa Tech Leader of the Year Award
and Africa Educational Technology Award at the Africa
Tech Week Awards, Cape Town, South Africa 2023
Winner: Africa Impact Award at the Deep Learning
IndabaX NGA 2023
Winner: Overall Academic Excellence in South Africa
at the NCEA Awards in Pretoria, South Africa 2023.
Grit Lab Africa 