Our organization teamed up with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) and CSIR-Crops Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana to co-host the inaugural hands-on soil microbial mapping and metagenomics workshop. The workshop, supported by the Oxford Nanopore Technologies, brought together 12 outstanding early-career scientists from seven African and offered them top-notch skills in sequencing, molecular biology, bioinformatics and more. The workshop also served as a fantastic way to connect with other scientists.