Over the past six years, the authors have been project leaders for three distance education initiatives in Cape Verde and Mozambique: (1) a blended learning master's degree in multimedia in education for faculty in Cape Verdean public higher education institutions (2005-2008); (2) a teacher training programme for 1375 elementary teachers provided through distance education in Cape Verde (2006-2008); and (3) a blended-learning multimedia in education doctoral programme for staff, at the Centre for Distance Education, University Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique (2008-11). This article describes the background to these projects, solutions adopted to meet the specific needs, capabilities, and constraints of the participants and institutions, and difficulties encountered. The project leaders reflect upon their experiences and the main lessons learned, while drawing conclusions that may be relevant to other higher education institutions in Africa and other developing countries embarking on planning and implementing distance education programmes and support units. (Contains 5 figures and 1 table.)