The Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) has announced the first 12 African EdTech startups for its first cohort. The startups will benefit from the Centre’s support to expand their operations and improve secondary teaching and learning across the continent.
The startups will also receive a comprehensive package over the next year that includes customized mentorship, financial support, the opportunity to test, validate and scale their business, and a USD40, 000 grant to aid in the development of their solutions.
“The announcement of these first Fellows at the Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning is a milestone moment in the work we are carrying out in Africa. Bringing together these talented entrepreneurs and supporting them as they innovate to drive excellence in teaching and learning offers new opportunities with great potential to raise the bar in African education and benefit tens of millions of students.” Peter Materu, Chief Program Officer at the Mastercard Foundation said.
The selected EdTech startups are O’Genius Priority, from Rwanda, HITCH, from Nigeria, AkooBooks Audio and Chalkboard Education from Ghana, and iCog Labs, from Ethiopia. Others include Eneza Education, M-Shule, Kytabu, and Litemore, from Kenya.
Siyavula Education and Instill Education, from South Africa, are also on the list.
The Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning is a five-year initiative. It was launched in 2018 as part of the Foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy to enable 30 million young people, especially young women, to find dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. The Centre aims to spark innovation and promote promising practices in the use of information and communications technologies for teaching and learning, and to catalyze significant improvements in education across the continent.
“We’re very proud and excited to have this first group of leading African innovators in EdTech with us,” says Joseph Nsengimana, Head of the Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT. “These companies are working to expand the use of ICT to address some of the most pressing issues facing education in Africa today. We will give them access to the customized mentoring and financial support they need over the next year so that they can test, refine, and validate their products. With that, they can grow their businesses and help to improve learning outcomes throughout Africa.”
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