SAS Hackeuses — Simplon Burkina Faso's Free AI Specialization for Women Coders in Ouagadougou

Simplon Burkina Faso, part of the pan-African Simplon.co training network, opened a permanent training centre in Ouagadougou's Somgandé district in November 2023, after operating in the country since 2020. It works with partners including the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie and Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo to reduce Burkina Faso's digital divide.

In July 2023 Simplon Burkina Faso launched "SAS Hackeuses," a free, women-only training track open to applicants with no prior technical background. By 2024 it had run five cohorts, alongside the centre's separate web-development and digital-referent tracks; one of these tracks is a dedicated artificial-intelligence specialization, mirroring the six-week AI-focused "SAS Hackeuses" format Simplon runs in other countries in its network.

Demand has been high: the first cohort selected roughly 30 learners from more than 1,300 applicants. Across Simplon Burkina Faso's programmes, 80% of graduates report paid work within six months of completing training. Alumnae have gone on to build real ventures — Géraldine Diarra and her fifth-cohort teammates launched "Amasapologie," a reconditioned-clothing e-commerce platform, within one month of finishing the course.

One caveat: the 80% employment figure is reported across all of Simplon Burkina Faso's programmes combined (web development, digital referents and Hackeuses), not isolated to the AI-specialization cohort alone, and no independent third-party evaluation of the AI track specifically has been published.

Read the full analysis: https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article125458=