Proposed by: The Spix Foundation, for consideration by the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD)
Duration: 5 years (Years 3–7 of the Breakthrough Project, 2028–2032)
Requested funding: USD 10.0M (flat $2.0M/year across all 5 years)
The AUDA-NEPAD EdTech Task Force is a time-bound coordination mechanism — not an institution-building investment — that will steward Africa's EdTech Breakthrough Project from the point where Planet-Projects become operational (Year 3) through the Project's completion and institutional transition (Year 7). The Task Force is bootstrapped through V&P_Core with $15M across all 7 years of the Breakthrough Project. This dedicated Project Plan requests $10M additional funding to expand the Task Force's coordination programme from Year 3 onward, when the 9 original Planet-Projects require intensive continental coordination and country-level scale-up management.
The two-source funding model is deliberate:
Additionally, a 7% coordination levy applied to the 9 original Planet-Projects contributes approximately $8.2M to the Task Force over 7 years. The Task Force's total Project-funded cash budget is approximately $33.2M, from three sources: V&P_Core ($15M), this PP ($10M), and the coordination levy (~$8.2M). AUDA-NEPAD provides institutional home, mandate, convening authority, and staff time per SIFA/COYWA precedent for AU-hosted continental programmes; this in-kind contribution is not monetized in the budget.
The Task Force is explicitly time-bound. It coordinates during the Project and ends at Year 7. It is not permanent, carries no legacy attribution, and funds coordination overhead, not institution-building. Its natural funder is the European Union, which has a track record funding African education coordination through initiatives like SIFA, COYWA, and the continental health data architecture.
V&P_Core establishes the Task Force's institutional foundation and core staffing. However, once the 9 original Planet-Projects become operational in Year 3, the coordination work intensifies dramatically:
V&P_Core's $15M budget is insufficient to support this expanded programme. This Project Plan provides the dedicated funding for Years 3–7 when the Task Force's coordination demands peak.
The 9 original Planet-Projects — BEINGS, CRADLE, ECM, GEOS, RBF4Ed, and three others — each contribute a 7% coordination levy to the Task Force, totaling approximately $8.2M over 7 years. This mechanism ensures that every Planet-Project that benefits from Task Force coordination contributes to its cost. The levy is applied at the point of disbursement, creating direct accountability between Planet-Projects and the Task Force.
AUDA-NEPAD provides the institutional home for the Task Force and the African Union's continuing stewardship of Africa's DPI-Ed. This follows the precedent established by SIFA and COYWA, African Union-hosted continental programmes where:
This model is fundamentally different from institution-building investment, where the AU would establish and endow a permanent bureau. The Task Force will serve its purpose and transition.
The Task Force will execute three core functions across Years 3–7:
Function 1 — Continental Coordination & Delivery Enablement: Coordinate the 9 Planet-Projects' implementation, manage resource flows, facilitate technical and policy knowledge transfer across projects and countries, and remove implementation blockages.
Function 2 — Trust, Integrity & System Stewardship: Maintain quality, safety, and evidence integrity across the ecosystem; manage the ecosystem's reputation with Ministries and international partners; ensure that the standards embedded in Planet-Project specifications are maintained in practice.
Function 3 — Institutional Transition & Capability Transfer: Beginning in Year 5, build the capacity of national institutions to steward Planet-Project implementations post-Breakthrough, prepare for AU permanent institutional hosting (if approved by the Assembly), and design the Task Force's managed transition at Year 7.
Continental Coordination (all years): - Daily coordination of 9 Planet-Project timelines, dependencies, and resource allocation - Quarterly Planet-Project leadership forums to align strategy and resolve cross-project conflicts - Semi-annual multi-country coordination meetings for participating Ministries of Education (scaling from 6 to 21 to 44) on shared scale-up challenges
Country-Level Scale-Up (Years 3–7): - Technical assistance to Ministries: policy implementation, procurement, system integration, change management - Capacity building for Ministry officials and school leaders (2–3 in-country missions per Ministry per year) - Integration of RESPECT Certified Partners network with country-level implementation - Troubleshooting implementation blockers in real-time
Trust and System Stewardship (Years 3–7): - Quarterly ecosystem quality assurance reviews (specification compliance, data integrity, user safety) - Annual evidence audits of learning outcome measurement across pilot countries - Continental safety and ethics review board (addressing child safeguarding, data protection, AI alignment) - Management of ecosystem reputation with Ministries, donors, and international partners
Institutional Transition and Capability Transfer (Years 5–7): - Design of post-Breakthrough governance for Planet-Projects and the Task Force - Capacity transfer to regional AU bodies and national Ministry networks - Preparation of institutional continuity options for the Task Force (permanent AU hosting, restructure, or managed sunset) - Documentation of lessons learned for continental replication
| Year | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Plan Funding | $2.0M | $2.0M | $2.0M | $2.0M | $2.0M | $10.0M |
Note: The Task Force's Project-funded cash budget is approximately $33.2M over 7 years, from three sources: - V&P_Core bootstrap: $15M (Years 1–7) - This Project Plan: $10M (Years 3–7) - Coordination levy (7% of 9 Planet-Projects): ~$8.2M (Years 1–7)
AUDA-NEPAD provides the institutional home (mandate, convening, staff time) per SIFA/COYWA precedent; this in-kind contribution is not monetized.
| Function | Percentage | Annual (at $2M/year) |
|---|---|---|
| Continental Coordination & Delivery Enablement | 40% | $800K |
| Country-Level Scale-Up Support | 35% | $700K |
| Trust, Integrity & System Stewardship | 20% | $400K |
| Institutional Transition & Capability Transfer | 5% | $100K |
| Total | 100% | $2.0M |
Continental Coordination & Delivery Enablement ($800K/year): Salaries for 2–3 senior coordinators ($400K), Planet-Project liaison officers ($200K), quarterly forums and knowledge management systems ($200K). Daily coordination of 9 projects across a growing number of countries (6 → 21 → 44) requires dedicated staffing distributed across technical, policy, and programmatic domains.
Country-Level Scale-Up Support ($700K/year): Salaries for 3–4 country liaison officers based in hub countries ($350K), in-country technical assistance missions ($200K), capacity-building programme design and facilitation ($150K). Each Ministry requires 2–3 visits annually for troubleshooting, policy alignment, and capability transfer.
Trust, Integrity & System Stewardship ($400K/year): Quarterly quality assurance reviews and data audits ($150K), continental safety and ethics board operations ($150K), ecosystem reputation management and partner engagement ($100K). This function becomes increasingly important as the ecosystem scales and the reputational risk of quality failures grows.
Institutional Transition & Capability Transfer ($100K/year): Scaling from Year 5 onward. Initial design and scoping of transition options, capacity transfer activities, and lessons documentation ($100K baseline, expanding in Years 6–7).
The Task Force's Project-funded cash budget is approximately $33.2M over 7 years (Years 1–7):
| Source | Amount | Timeline | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| V&P_Core | $15M | Years 1–7 | Core staffing, institutional establishment, stewardship |
| This Project Plan | $10M | Years 3–7 | Expanded coordination, scale-up support, institutional transition |
| Coordination Levy (7% of 9 PPs) | ~$8.2M | Years 1–7 | Cross-project coordination and ecosystem oversight |
| Total Project Cash | ~$33.2M | Years 1–7 | Full Task Force cash budget |
AUDA-NEPAD provides the institutional home — mandate, convening authority, staff time, and facilities — per AU co-funding precedent (SIFA, COYWA). This in-kind contribution is not monetized in the budget. In both SIFA (€120M, funded by Germany and the EU) and COYWA (~€22M, funded by Spain), AUDA-NEPAD contributed zero programme cash; external partners provided 100% of programme funding while AUDA-NEPAD provided institutional infrastructure.
This three-source model ensures that: - The AU's institutional commitment (V&P_Core contribution) establishes the Task Force's legitimacy. - Development Partners fund the expanded work programme (this PP). - Planet-Projects directly fund cross-project coordination (levy), creating accountability.
The European Union is the natural funder for this Project Plan, based on:
Secondary interest may come from development partners already funding individual Planet-Projects (for example, GIZ funding BEINGS could contribute to Task Force coordination to ensure BEINGS integrates cleanly with other projects).
The Task Force is explicitly time-bound. It coordinates during the Project (Years 1–7) and then transitions. It is not a permanent institution. Year 7 marks:
By Year 6, the AU Assembly will decide on institutional continuity for Africa's DPI-Ed stewardship. Options include:
The decision rests with the AU Assembly and participating Member States, informed by evidence on what works for sustained DPI-Ed stewardship.
This Project Plan funds coordination overhead, not institution-building. It will not create permanent assets in the AUDA-NEPAD name, nor claim credit for Planet-Project achievements. The Task Force is the infrastructure through which Planet-Projects coordinate; it is not itself the outcome. The outcomes are Planet-Project deliverables (DPI-Ed specifications, evidence infrastructure, financing mechanisms) and country-level DPI-Ed implementations managed by Ministries. At Year 7, the Task Force's contribution will be invisible — success will be indistinguishable from the Planet-Projects and country institutions that operated through it.
| Risk | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Task Force becomes bottleneck rather than enabler | Clear decision rights and escalation pathways defined at outset. Quarterly governance reviews assess whether Task Force adds value or creates friction. |
| Coordination levy does not materialize | Coordination levy is disbursed from Breakthrough Project core funding in advance; Planet-Projects reimburse. Creates certainty for Task Force budgeting. |
| AU political commitment wanes post-Year 3 | V&P_Core funding is AU's institutional commitment, independent of political cycles. Quarterly high-level AU engagement maintains visibility. Assembly annual review of DPI-Ed progress sustains political attention. |
| Ministries prefer bilateral donor engagement to continental coordination | Task Force operates transparently alongside bilateral relationships. Its value is coordination overhead reduction and evidence aggregation, not replacing country partnerships. |
| Institutional transition delayed or unclear | Transition planning begins at Year 3, documented decision framework by Year 5, Assembly decision by Year 6. Three-year planning horizon reduces transition risk. |
The AUDA-NEPAD EdTech Task Force is the operational infrastructure through which Africa's EdTech Breakthrough Project coordinates from Year 3 to Year 7. It is not an institution-building investment. It is coordination overhead — essential, time-bound, and designed to become invisible once the ecosystems and countries it serves can operate independently.
This Project Plan funds the Task Force's expanded work programme when Planet-Project coordination intensifies and country-level scale-up accelerates (Years 3–7). Combined with V&P_Core's institutional bootstrap ($15M) and the coordination levy from Planet-Projects (~$8.2M), the Task Force will operate with appropriate resources to manage 9 concurrent Planet-Projects, support a growing roster of Ministries (6 in Tranche 1, 21 in Tranche 2, 44 in Tranche 3) in scaling DPI-Ed, maintain ecosystem integrity, and design institutional transition.
The Task Force will serve its purpose and end. By Year 7, Ministries will operate Planet-Project implementations independently, the AU Assembly will have decided on post-Project governance, and the coordination function will transition to whatever permanent institutional arrangement — if any — is appropriate for sustained continental stewardship.
Five years. Three functions. One coordinating mechanism. Africa's EdTech Breakthrough, coordinated from the center while the real work happens in the countries.