TechSkills Marketplace Program bridges students and startups

Carnegie Mellon University Africa students bring fresh perspectives and an entrepreneurial mindset with them, but many talented students lack accessible opportunities to gain practical, hands-on experience in the African tech landscape. To address this gap between students and industry, CMU-Africa's Innovation Hub launched the TechSkills Marketplace Program, an initiative that works to connect students with startups that are actively recruiting top tech talent.

"African micro, small, and medium enterprises, especially early-stage startups, struggle to access high-quality tech talent to help them grow. This program helps to connect our students and startups in a mutually beneficial way," said Patricia Musiime, program manager for the TechSkills Marketplace Program. "It's about democratizing access to advanced digital skills and technical support, while promoting talent mobility, inclusion, and building an entrepreneurial mindset among our students at CMU-Africa and others across the continent."

The TechSkills Marketplace Program connects students and startups through immersive internships, giving students the hands-on experience they need and allowing startups to engage with the next generation of entrepreneurs and tech leaders. By partnering with the program, startups gain access to a pool of talented students who are looking to contribute their technical skills in a real-world setting.

The program is now being scaled across the African Engineering and Technology (Afretec) Network, and the Innovation Hub held a workshop in June that brought together program leads from all of the Afretec Network universities, fostering conversations about the program's vision, impact expectations, and operational processes.

It’s no longer just about internships; it's now about building a pipeline of talent and innovation that can fuel the continent’s tech entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Patricia Musiime, Program manager for the TechSkills Marketplace Program

One of the key aims of the TechSkills Marketplace Program is to promote job growth and create long-term employment opportunities for students. The Afretec Network will help to expand this vision across the entire African continent and potentially "support cross-border internships and collaborations that reflect the interconnected nature of Africa's tech ecosystem," said Musiime.

Since its inception in 2023, the program has experienced impressive growth. In 2024, there was an increase in the number of students and startups who participated in the program, as it was expanded to five new countries: Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Rwanda. This year, for CMU-Africa alone, the program has placed 34 students in 22 startups as a part of the 2025 cohort.

Past startup partners include the Angaza Center, SLS Energy, and Viebeg Medical, among many others. TechSkills Marketplace Program alumni who have gone on to found their own ventures, like HOVA AI, Pebla, and Zoner Health, have even hired students from the same program, "which speaks volumes about the impact and trust they have in it," said Musiime.

Feedback from intern supervisors at several startups share the same sentiment. "The intern's outstanding performance during his internship greatly benefited our organization by helping build our initial prototype, improving technical efficiency, fostering innovation, and contributing to collaborative teamwork, all of which resulted in enhanced customer satisfaction," said Shumbusho Musa of Bookly Africa.

Moving forward, the program plans to hold more workshops and collaborative sessions to further strengthen existing partnerships and cultivate new ones, thereby evolving and improving the program’s mission in real time based on local feedback from participants.

"It's been powerful to watch a community grow where students, startups, and institutions across countries are all learning from and supporting one another," said Musiime. "It's no longer just about internships; it's now about building a pipeline of talent and innovation that can fuel the continent's tech entrepreneurship ecosystem."