In cybersecurity, talent is not the problem. Access is.
Women make up just 24 to 25% of the global cybersecurity workforce, and their presence shrinks further at specialist and leadership levels. The gap is not about capability. It is about what happens after entry, when ambition meets the very real cost of advancing. A single training course and examination can run into thousands of dollars, placing the credentials that signal global readiness firmly out of reach for professionals who are ready, willing, and more than capable of the next step.
In Africa, this challenge is especially pronounced. The talent exists in abundance. What has been missing is a structured, funded pathway from foundational knowledge to advanced specialisation, one that meets professionals where they are and takes them where the industry needs them to be.
CyberGirls+ was built to be that pathway. Not to introduce women into cybersecurity, but to equip them to compete, lead, and contribute at a global standard. This is the gap that CyberSafe Foundation and SANS Institute set out to close together.
Elite Training at Zero Cost
CyberGirls+ is a partnership programme between CyberSafe Foundation and SANS Institute designed to advance women from foundational cybersecurity knowledge into globally recognised technical specialisation, at zero cost to participants.
Built exclusively for alumni of the CyberGirls Fellowship, CyberSafe Foundation’s flagship one-year programme that has trained thousands of women across 27 African countries, CyberGirls+ represents the next step in the career journey. Selected alumni receive access to SANS Institute’s world-class technical training and a GIAC (Global Information Assurance Certification) examination attempt, fully funded through the partnership.
SANS Institute is widely regarded as the gold standard in cybersecurity training, and its GIAC certifications are recognised by employers and security teams across the globe. Pairing that standard of instruction with CyberSafe Foundation’s proven talent pipeline and community infrastructure created something uniquely powerful: a structured pathway from entry-level employment to globally competitive specialisation, with no financial barrier standing in the way.
The Numbers from Cohort 1
In 2025, the pilot CyberGirls+ cohort brought together 10 high-potential women from Nigeria, Kenya, and Zimbabwe. Participants ranged from students transitioning into their first roles to mid-level professionals seeking advanced specialisation. Between August and October 2025, all ten completed their selected SANS training courses, covering incident handling, web application security, cloud penetration testing, and digital forensics, before sitting their GIAC certification examinations.
The outcomes were immediate and significant:
- 90% of participants earned internationally recognised GIAC certifications
- 60% secured new jobs following the programme
- 30% received promotions within their existing organisations
- 80% gained speaking or consulting opportunities
- One participant recorded a 320% increase in income
The numbers are striking. But they still do not capture the full picture.
Stories That Show What the Data Cannot
The outcomes are best understood through the people behind them.
Shalom Favour from Nigeria completed the Advanced Digital Forensics and Incident Response track and secured a new role in DFIR and SOC operations with a nearly 320% increase in income. She described the CyberGirls+ scholarship as doing more than removing a financial barrier. It opened access to world-class training that fundamentally altered the direction of her career and her professional confidence.
Jacklyne Mbuthia, a multi-cloud security engineer and former CyberGirls mentor from Kenya, emerged from the Cloud Penetration Testing track with a renewed professional vision. The training directly informed her work architecting a specialised Identity and Access Management (IAM) security academy under CyberSafe Foundation a legacy initiative that will outlast her own certification and create pathways for the women who come after her.
These are two stories from ten. The full impact report captures the broader transformation across all participants. Each participant’s journey is distinct, each outcome worth reading in full.
A Model That Multiplies Impact
The impact of CyberGirls+ does not stop at the individual. When a woman in Africa earns an advanced GIAC certification, the effect moves outward. Her organisation gains stronger technical capacity. Younger women in her network see a visible, credible example of what is possible. The regional talent pool grows more diverse at the leadership level. And as these professionals advance, they give back through mentorship, peer learning, and community initiatives that multiply the value of a single investment many times over. Inclusive and excellence-driven are not competing priorities. CyberGirls+ is proof that they are the same thing.
What makes CyberGirls+ work is not simply the quality of SANS training, nor the reach of CyberSafe Foundation’s network. It is the deliberate combination of both. SANS Institute has spent decades developing the world’s top cybersecurity professionals. Its decision to extend that same standard of excellence to women across Africa, through an access-first model, is a statement about what the institution believes the industry requires. CyberSafe Foundation brought the talent pipeline, the mentorship infrastructure, and the community framework to ensure participants did not just receive training but were positioned to succeed because of it.
The result is not a one-off scholarship. It is a scalable, replicable model that links global expertise to local context and builds the kind of talent pipeline the continent’s cybersecurity ecosystem urgently needs.
What Comes Next
Cohort 1 has proven the model. The evidence is clear, the outcomes are documented, and the pathway is established. Now, the work is to scale it.
With continued partnership and investment, CyberGirls+ can credential more women across more African countries, advance more women into specialist and leadership roles, and strengthen Africa’s presence within the global cybersecurity workforce. Whether you are an organisation looking to sponsor cohort places, an institution interested in formal partnership, or an individual who wants to support the mission, there is a role for you in what comes next.
Partner with us or learn more: [email protected]
CyberGirls+ is a programme by CyberSafe Foundation, delivered in partnership with SANS Institute. To learn more about SANS Institute’s mission programmes, visit sans.org.
