Young Coders From Africa and Asia Build AI Skills and New Friendships in Shenzhen

The UNESCO Africa-Asia Youth AI Tour, held from 20 to 25 July 2026, brought young people, teachers and education leaders together to explore what they could build through shared learning.

For students who travelled to Shenzhen, China, from across Africa and Asia, a week of coding and artificial intelligence education offered a chance to learn with people whose classrooms and everyday experiences were different from their own. The UNESCO Africa-Asia Youth AI Tour, held from 20 to 25 July 2026, brought young people, teachers and education leaders together to explore what they could build through shared learning.

Organized by UNESCO with its strategic partner CODEMAO and support from the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), the tour combined policy discussions, technology-focused study visits and practical student training. Delegations came from China, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Namibia, the Republic of the Congo and Thailand, bringing six countries into a conversation about digital literacy and access to AI education.

Bringing Education Leaders and Young People Into the Same Conversation

The programme opened its policy discussions on 20 July with the Africa-Asia Youth Forum on AI Education and Innovation Ecosystems, moderated by Zhan Tao, former Director of UNESCO IITE. Education authority representatives joined UNESCO colleagues from Headquarters, field offices and IITE, alongside researchers, educators and industry representatives.

Their discussions covered questions that reach directly into schools: how teachers can introduce AI in classrooms, how countries can share educational resources and how partnerships can give more students opportunities to learn. Participants explored regional coordination and the development of networks that support innovation, with attention to local educational needs and connections across borders.

Mohamed Elfarnawany, UNESCO's Director for Priority Africa, described the gathering as a practical expression of South-South cooperation. He pointed to teacher training, student coding and exchanges between cities such as Brazzaville and Bangkok, Nairobi and Shenzhen as examples of cooperation already taking place.

Students had their own place in the forum's formal agenda. During a dedicated sharing session, they spoke about learning to code, meeting people from other cultures and their hopes for the future, giving education leaders a chance to hear from the young people whose opportunities these decisions could shape.

A Wider School Network Gives the Partnership Room to Grow

The tour formed part of the UNESCO-CODEMAO Youth Coding Initiative, launched in 2021 to strengthen digital literacy among young people in Africa and Asia, encourage cooperation on AI education and support an inclusive digital transformation of education worldwide. At the forum, 68 schools received official pilot accreditation, extending the initiative's geographical reach and widening the network through which its educational work can develop.

The event established a framework for longer-term cooperation covering curriculum development, teacher capacity building, student mobility and project-based learning. These commitments create a connection between international discussions and the work that needs to happen in schools, where access to teaching support, suitable learning materials and opportunities to practise can shape a student's experience of technology.

Three Days of Coding Turned Shared Ideas Into Team Projects

From 23 to 25 July, international student groups took part in a three-day programme of training and collaborative coding and AI project development, supported by CODEMAO's curriculum team. Students worked through a full cycle of learning, experimentation, teamwork and presentation. They developed projects together, prepared pitches and presented their completed teamwork through project roadshows and a final showcase, gaining experience in explaining their ideas as well as building them.

A judging panel evaluated the projects, and outstanding participants received certificates and trophies jointly issued by UNESCO and CODEMAO. The technology-focused study visits added another dimension to a programme that connected education policy with practical learning and exchanges between young Africans and Asians. UNESCO plans to continue working with CODEMAO on teacher training, communication between schools and youth innovation, carrying the partnership into further opportunities for digital education across both regions.