The Africa Epidemic Services - Laboratory Leadership track (Africa CDC)

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About Africa CDC

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is an autonomous technical Agency established by the African Union (AU) to enhance the capacity, capabilities, and partnerships of Africa's public health institutions.

Africa CDC is mandated through Article 3 of its governing statute to “support Member States in capacity building in public health through medium and long-term field epidemiologic and laboratory training programmes”. To fulfil this mandate, Africa CDC convened the Africa Health Workforce Compact in 2025, with a focus on investment, training, and retaining of skilled health workforce. The Compact builds upon the Africa CDC Framework for Health Workforce Development 2020–2025 and supports the African Union Agenda 2063 through the development of a sufficient, motivated, and well-trained health workforce capable of delivering essential health services across the continent

About the Fellowship

Africa CDC has developed a continental African Epidemic Service (AES) Program, a flagship program aiming to enhance the capacity, capabilities, and partnerships of Africa's public health institutions. Its primary goal is to build capacity of mid-level professionals to control, prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats and outbreaks by employing science, policy, and data-driven interventions and programs effectively and efficiently whilst learning from best practices across the continent. The African Epidemic Service has three tracks namely, Epidemiology, Laboratory Leadership Fellowship and Public health informatics.

The Africa CDC Laboratory Leadership Fellowship (LLF) Track is a structured program designed to be completed over 12 months, combining in-person workshops, virtual learning, mentorship, and practical outbreak response assignments and capstone projects. Didactic in person workshops comprise three months of the 12-month period and the remaining 9 months period of applied learning, interspersed by virtual sessions, will take place in a site hosted by an African Union Member State. Participants will progressively develop and demonstrate competencies across eight leadership domains, complete assigned learning modules, and apply acquired skills in real-world laboratory and public health settings. The program is designed to balance theoretical learning with hands-on practice, ensuring fellows have sufficient time to integrate leadership, management, and technical skills into their daily responsibilities while contributing to the strengthening of national and regional laboratory systems.

Africa CDC provides all learning and development materials and covers all costs associated with the fellowship, including travel-related costs, stipends, hardware, software and health insurance.

Education

Applicants for the Fellowship must:

1. Be a citizen of an African Union Member State;
2. At the time of application, be employed in an African country and have written permission from a government institution to attend the one year training, with guarantee to return to employment post training;
3. Be a youth as defined by the African Union, i.e., an individual under the age of 35.
4. Have a Bachelor's or Master's degree in laboratory sciences or laboratory-related fields from an accredited university
5. A minimum of 5 years’ relevant work experience for bachelor’s degree or 3 years for master’s degree holders after graduation in an African country
6. Have served in a mid- to senior-level laboratory leadership or management position in human, animal, or environmental health at national level and has prior training in laboratory quality management systems.
7. Proficiency in at least one of the African Union’s official languages (English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, or Kiswahili) is required. Knowledge of an additional AU official language is an asset.

Note: Advanced FETP Fellows and Graduates are not eligible to apply.

Requirements

All applicants must be submitted online and include:

1. A national passport from an African Union Member State.
2. An official letter of support with permission from a government institution to attend the one-year training programme with the right to return post training.
3. Letters of recommendation from two reputable professional referees.
4. Official scanned copies of the certificates and transcripts of acquired degrees (bachelor’s and master’s degree).
5. Evidence of additional relevant qualifications in Quality Management Systems.
6. Brief curriculum vitae using the AU template (2 pages maximum).
7. Motivation statement (maximum 500 words), outlining why this program would be a good fit for you how it will support your professional development, and the expected impact on public health challenges in your home country.

Important Information

Completed applications with all supporting documents should be uploaded to the online portal. Incomplete applications will not be considered. The fellowship program will prioritize inclusivity, gender equity, and representation from across the continent.

Key Dates

• Application Deadline: 26 August 2026
• Programme Start Date: January 2027