Cybastion to Build Five Women’s Tech Hubs With Childcare

Published: September 30, 2026

MONROVIA – Women across Liberia will be able to train in digital and business skills while their young children are cared for on the same campus, under an agreement the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection signed with U.S. technology company Cybastion to build five technology hubs in Monrovia, Voinjama, Gbarnga, Kakata and Buchanan.

Gender, Children and Social Protection Minister Gbeme Horace Kollie and Cybastion CEO Thierry Wandji Ketchiozo signed the agreement for the Liberia Women’s Digital and Economic Empowerment Program on Sept. 23 in New York, at a Corporate Council on Africa trade and investment roundtable on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

The program will run over 36 months, with a flagship campus in Monrovia and regional hubs in the four other cities. Cybastion will design, build, equip and operate the centers, and each will include a childcare center so mothers can attend training, mentorship and business development sessions.

“Liberian women are a vital force in the country’s economic and social development,” Wandji said.

The hubs will serve women in the informal economy and in agricultural value chains, offering digital skills and entrepreneurship training, mentoring, and help reaching new markets, connecting with financial services and joining larger supply chains. Young people will also be able to enroll.

Wandji said the hubs “will create pathways for women to build stronger businesses.”

Training will be delivered in part by the Theya Foundation, Cybastion’s philanthropic arm, in partnership with Cisco through the Cisco Networking Academy, the U.S. networking company’s education program. Francine Katsoudas, Cisco’s executive vice president and chief people, policy and purpose officer, attended the signing and said the partnership could expand digital skills and entrepreneurship opportunities for Liberian women.

Information Minister Jerolinmek Matthew Piah announced the partnership in Monrovia, saying it was finalized during side events at the General Assembly and will be carried out with the gender ministry.

The program targets a wide gender gap in internet access. Liberia ranked 99th of 100 countries on the Inclusive Internet Index in 2022, and men were nearly 50% more likely than women to use the internet, according to a World Bank document published this year.

The agreement extends the Boakai administration’s partnership with Cybastion. On Sept. 23, 2024, also at a Corporate Council on Africa roundtable in New York, the government signed a five-year master service framework agreement with the Cybastion Institute of Technology under its Digital Fast Track program, covering an additional undersea cable connection, a data center for government e-services and an assessment of the country’s digital capabilities.

Cybastion is running a similar program in Côte d’Ivoire, where it is working with the Ivorian Ministry of Women, Family and Children on technology and agricultural processing centers for women farmers in 15 localities, each with childcare built into its design.