African Science Academy graduates 50 STEM girls

The African Science Academy (ASA), an all-girls advanced-level school specialising in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), has celebrated the graduation of its ninth cohort at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) -University of Ghana.

This year’s ceremony honoured 50 outstanding students from 13 African countries who completed their studies in 2025.

The graduating class included students from Lesotho, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Rwanda, Malawi, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Togo, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon and Ghana, the host country.

Founded in 2016 by the African Gifted Foundation, ASA is a premier boarding school dedicated to nurturing young African women with exceptional potential in STEM by providing rigorous training to prepare them for leadership roles in scientific research and innovation.

Chair of the African Gifted Foundation and Founder of ASA, Dr. Tom Ilube CBE, addressing the graduates, urged them to spearhead scientific advancements across the continent as Africa’s future depends on their brilliance and determination to maximise its resources and alleviate poverty.

“You have no idea what you can achieve until you step into this sort of opportunity and unleash your ability, and you can make small changes that will have a ripple effect across Africa and the world. Be good ambassadors, innovators, and create a change in whichever field you find yourself,” he urged.

He reiterated that the Africa Science Academy is committed to developing young girls academically, as well as their confidence and brilliance, to become powerful young women who will shape society.

British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, in her remarks, commended the young girls for their display of brilliance and ability to learn the complex and difficult things in a male-dominated field.

With Africa estimated to need about two million STEM professionals to achieve the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the British High Commissioner urged them to capitalize on the opportunity offered to innovate and be changemakers in that space.

Head Teacher of ASA, Gifty Ghansah, shared her experience, highlighting milestones on the dream that started nine years ago with just 25 girls, but has doubled this year and is hoping to double this year’s figure soon when it relocates to its new campus, which is under construction in the Eastern Region.

She mentioned that every cohort comes with its uniqueness, however, the 2025-year group dubbed the ‘Bellaatrix’ is extremely special, especially the students’ level of curiosity and ability to be challenged and stretched beyond what they are taught.

With just about 29 percent of females in the STEM fields globally, the balance within the STEM field in Africa is even bigger, regardless of the current interventions, hence, ASA is focused on only young girls.

“And so, we want to focus our attention on a showing that we continue to empower young females to balance that kind of male-female ratio within the area of STEM,” she said.

Student Recruitment Process

In terms of student recruitment and admissions, ASA goes through a very rigorous process, in about five stages, to reach a final decision on the girls. The process commences in October of the previous year and finishes in May.

The institute has volunteers all across Africa and in Ghana who assist during the call for applications. The volunteer network, ASA’s social media platforms, and school websites are used to announce the opening.

Stage one, call for volunteers, school visitations, assemblies, and so on, while stage two, the application is launched. Stage three deals with shortlisting and the invitation of those successful in the first round.

At the fourth stage, a very comprehensive entrance examination is conducted in the field of  Maths, Physics, and English language, and then those who meet the threshold for the past rate are shortlisted for the next stage.

These selected ones then move to the fifth stage, where they are invited for interviews -an in-person interview at the school or a virtual interview conducted. And then a process continues.

“And so, the process is rigorous. After all these stages I have mentioned, if we then think we want to do home visitation, we follow up, just to double-check, because we’re looking for high-achieving low-income background students,” Ms. Ghansah said.

ASA Innovation Hub

In addition to STEM, the school runs extra-curricular activities in robotics and computer programming. The students are then tasked to use their knowledge in these fields to develop real-life solutions for society.

The 2025 cohort launched two innovative and transformative programmes. One of the two, branded as the ‘Farmer Aid’, was programmed to aid farmers in animal farming, check on the health of their animals regularly with sensors fixed to the entrances of the ranch.

“The system checks which animal is healthy and which is not any time they pass through the programmed gates. So, when the gate shuts, then you know it’s a trigger to know that there’s an issue with these sets.

Strong Alumni Network

The head teacher emphasised that the school has a very structured alumni system that enables management to follow through on where each of their girls is furthering their education and what challenges they face.

The ceremony witnessed some alumni members share goodwill messages with the girls from their campuses across the world, including campuses like Columbia University, Hong Kong, Ashesi, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), among others.

Academic Rewards

Students who delivered extraordinary performances in various courses were recognized at the graduation ceremony.

The best student in A-level Maths was presented to three students who scored the optimum marks. These were Nina Ornella Umukundwa -Rwanda, Asow-Edom Malaziwe -Togo, and Bella Rebecca Hope- Rwanda.

The best student in A-level Further Maths went to Prenam Edith Amana, Asow-Edom Malaziwe, both from Togo.

The Best students in A-level Physics were Fortunate Ansong and Afua Amanobea Addo-Yobo, both Ghanaians.

The Overall Best Student in Academics honour went to Asow-Edom Malaziwe from Togo.

The Outstanding Development Award went to Fortunate Ansong, Ghana.

The All-Round Students Award went to Marie Daniella Nishimwe from Burundi, Asow-Edom Malaziwe, and Prenam Edith Amana, Togo.

Non-Academic Rewards

The Most Disciplined Student honours went to Gloria Pignamssi and Gracia Tchegnon from Togo, and Perpetual Omoniyi -Nigeria.

The ASA Resilience Award went to Asow-Edom Malaziwe -Togo and Deborah Agyepong -Ghana.

The ASA Ambassador Award was presented to Afua Amanobea Addo-Yobo and Doreen Rathebe from Ghana and Lesotho, respectively.

The Exceptional Dedication Award was won by Prenam Edith Amana-Togo.

Embodiment of ASA Values Awards

The ASA Excellence Award went to Afua Amanobea Addo-Yobo from Ghana and Marie Daniella Nishimwe from Burundi.

The ASA Award for Integrity went to Fatine Bega and Marie Daniella Nishimwe from Rwanda and Burundi, respectively.

The ASA Ambition Award winner was Marie Daniella Nishimwe -Burundi.

The ASA Caring Community Award went to Eyerusalem Gebreamlak -Ethiopia.

The ASA Empowerment Award went to Prenam Edith Amana -Togo.

The ASA Innovation Award was highly competitive, but in the end, the team made up of Omodele Thomas- Nigeria, Hope Rebecca Bella -Rwanda, Afua Amanobea Addo-Yobo -Ghana, and Fatine Bega -Rwanda, emerged as winners.

The ASA Creativity Award also went to Ama Badu Afriyie and Goodness Asare Bediako, from Ghana, and Jessica Sarah Ineza, from Rwanda.

Finally, the ASA Diversity Award went to Gracia Tchegnon and Nicole Onuchukwu from Togo and Nigeria, respectively.

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