Tech hubs potentially driving education in Africa
Despite lagging in its overall adoption of digital technology, and its pronounced digital divide, the digital sector on the African continent reveals many nuggets of pure gold.
by Johan Burger
The most well-known is Safaricom’s M-Pesa in the financial services sector. Other sectors experiencing significant growth in the adoption of digital technology include agriculture, education, e-commerce, health and government services, to name but a few. This report addresses some of the recent developments in this sector.
TECH HUBS POTENTIALLY DRIVING EDUCATION IN AFRICA
A UK research team recently examined the state of education in Africa to identify the roles of technology hub actors in the knowledge production landscape. Associate professor Oluwaseun Kolade and his colleagues at De Montfort University in the UK focused on tech hubs in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda. Their research focused on the ability of African tech hubs to address challenges in the educational sector, generate innovations, and meaningfully contribute to economic and social needs.
Their project found that African technology hubs doubled in number from 314 in 2016 to 643 in October 2019. They found that these tech hubs challenged traditional universities as sources of knowledge production and were becoming “better suited to a fast-paced knowledge economy.” In contrast to conventional universities, these tech hubs are “effective in economic and social value creation by creating new jobs, stimulating the entrepreneurial ecosystem and improving the quality of life of the poor socioeconomic groups.”
According to Kolade, “tech hubs are flexible and wired to create economic and social value and have a conscious multi-stakeholder approach that allows them to reach across the public sector and industry to make a difference.” Kolade believes that hubs can equip Africa’s workforce with the skills required for Industry 4.0. Lucienne Abrahams, director of the Learning Information Networking Knowledge Centre at the University of the Witwatersrand, agrees that tech hubs challenge universities as knowledge producers in the digital tech enablement field. Few African universities focus their investments, resources and energies on digital innovation.
Kolade’s study found that collaboration between tech hubs, universities, government and industry can contribute to sharing knowledge across institutions, leading to value for universities, tech hubs, and industry. Tech hubs, however, should push universities to “do things differently.”[1]
DEVELOPMENT OF EDUTECH STARTUPS
Nigerian EdTech startup uLesson recently secured US$7.5 million to expand to Eastern and Southern Africa. The funds from its Series A funding round will expand its market coverage, bring in new talent, and build its product development and production infrastructure.
Nigeria’s uLesson aims to provide ‘cost-effective, high-quality, and accessible education across Africa using technology.’ Lagos-based uLesson creates personalised and relevant content for learners in the K-7 to K-12 educational year in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and The Gambia. Since its official launch in May 2020, users downloaded the start-up’s app one million times.
Students can stream the educational content and lessons via mobile and PC devices or access the content via SD cards, where the content has been pre-downloaded for students. The download modality enables students to access lessons without a stable internet connection, increasing accessibility.
While education is always important, the means for delivering relevant education have often been problematic. Given the combination of increased availability of data networks in Africa, affordable smartphones, and an attitudinal change towards online learning brought about by Covid-19, uLesson now deems the foundations for an education revolution to be in place.
The startup plans to launch several new products, such as a new pan-African primary school library, one-on-one tutoring session, and interactive challenges. While currently only available as an Android app, the new firm plans to launch an iOS-compatible app.[2]
DIGITAL INSURANCE FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS
Pula is a Nairobi-based micro-insurer founded in 2015. Its mission is to develop and deliver online information services and provide agricultural insurance to farmers across Africa. Pula offers scalable insurance solutions that help mitigate the risks borne by Africa’s 700 million smallholder farmers. The insurer recently secured US$6 million from a Series A funding round. It will use these funds to scale up its operations across 13 markets in Africa and expand into Asia.
The firm created a range of digital products and agricultural insurance that assist farmers in improving their farming practices, increasing their income, and dealing with climate risk and changes. Pula’s business model focuses on offering an affordable alternative to costly traditional insurance providers by creating an insurance solution that meets the needs of smallholder farmers.
Pula leverages machine learning, crop cut assessment, and data points linked to weather patterns to minimize farmers’ losses. These tools allow them to customise tailor-made products for specific farmers, taking into account various inherent risks such as drought, pests, diseases, and flooding.
The insurer reportedly assisted over 4.3 million smallholder farmers in Africa and received “InsurTech of the Year” at the African Insurance Awards 2020.[3]
EXPANDING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE
Millions of Africans live without easy access to quality medical care. Play Zuri Health is a Kenyan startup that recently launched its Zuri Health mobile app to provide certified, affordable and accessible healthcare solutions to this segment. The app allows users to book appointments instantly with any medical professional or hospital within their region, book laboratory tests, talk to practitioners via message or video and request home visits. The app also provides a pharmacy service that enables users to order prescription and over-the-counter medication online for delivery to their homes.
The app includes SMS functionality. This design enables use by a wide range of users who lack access to WAP or internet-enabled devices,
The young company has a three-year growth plan and targets having more than 20,000 listed doctors, 250,000 premium users, and at least one million mobile downloads.[4]
DIGITISING SUPPLY CHAIN NETWORKS
Vodacom Business recently launched a suite of digital solutions for its connected supply chain network in Africa. These mobile tools provide end-to-end supply chain visibility. Vodacom Business will leverage key technologies — the cloud, IoT, Big Data, B2B integration, mobile and data solutions — to enable their business clients to create and use a connected supply chain network. Business users can also access information and engage with partners and customers across their global supply chain network.
According to Pearl Masoga, Acting Managing Executive for Retail and FMCG at Vodacom Business, the Vodacom Trading Bridge switches more than 84 million transactions valued at R200 billion (±US$13.7 billion) annually. The platform provides Vodacom clients with a digitized and connected supply chain network. Digitising their end-to-end supply chain system will provide businesses with visibility and control and provide in-depth data insights to improve customer service efficiencies. This functionality will increase resilience and minimise risk across business operations.
Firms that currently use a fully digital supply chain network will also benefit from Vodacom Business financial services. These include automated invoicing, mobile payments, and lending to suppliers and merchants. Users also benefit from Vodacom’s scalability and reach via partnerships such as M-Pesa.[5]
BOOSTING NIGERIA’S DIGITAL ECONOMY
To help SMEs use IT to become Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs), Nigeria will establish a Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre. Here, Nigerians can acquire the technological skills to develop hardware, software and emerging technologies, create an innovative ecosystem and a platform for technical skills, among others. IDEs reportedly need to have a global outlook, while SMEs tend to start small and often remain local. IDEs also generally require more capital than SMEs and tend to integrate more innovation into their activities than SMEs. However, they can have a far more significant impact on the economy than SMEs.
The Centre’s development aligns with the Nigerian government’s adoption of MIT’s frameworks to accelerate innovation by creating localised strategies for developing and sustaining innovation-driven enterprises.
POINTS OF INTEREST
- Several of the articles above address the continuation of digital penetration and enablement of stakeholders in industries such as agriculture and healthcare. We are also seeing governments adopting policies aimed at empowering entrepreneurs and SMEs. Digital technology is boosting innovation and has been doing so in Africa for quite a while. Probably the most well-known example is the financial services’ M-Pesa in Kenya. Farmcrowdy in Nigeria is another example in the agriculture sector. We also see various innovations in the healthcare sector in Africa at large. These innovations have improved business and the quality of lives of Africa’s people quite significantly. It is unlikely that the trend will run out soon.
- Insurance is a key sub-sector of the financial services industry. Unfortunately, insurance for the bottom of the pyramid is a continuing challenge, given the cost structure of traditional insurance. In sectors such as agriculture, smallholder farmers generate 80% of Africa’s food production. This segment mostly goes without crop insurance as they cannot afford it. Micro-insurer Pula provides insurance to smallholder farmers and added value in the form of knowledge and expertise. Such value additions are valuable in themselves, allowing micro-insurers to differentiate themselves from traditional insurers. This business model has the effect of convincing smallholder farmers that the insurance premium is justifiable and paid through increased crop production.
- Education is another sector that is experiencing significant disruptions. These result from, amongst other causes, the Covid-19 pandemic. While the virus threat hastened the adoption of digital technology as a portable interactive solution, access has long been a significant problem for African school children. In rural areas, many walked several kilometres to reach school long before the pandemic. With Covid-19, this problem is not only exacerbated but now affects tertiary students. Tech hubs and EdTech startups are emerging to increase access to education for Africa’s students.
- The large telecommunications giants are digital sector players with huge potential to succeed in the education sector. While large and successful universities in Africa, and even globally for that matter, have relatively limited access to the market, telecommunications giants have millions of clients to whom they send communications quite regularly – this constitutes a captive market that is open to cross-selling opportunities. Some have global clout. The telcos already enjoy trust from their consumers. They already sell many services — airtime, data, entertainment and financial services — to their millions of clients. With their digital capability and market reach, big telcos are ideally positioned to become providers of educational products, either in competition with universities or as channel partners and service providers for higher education. African universities must take note of this and act early. They may otherwise soon find themselves in a position similar to the banks in Africa, who ignored the threat of M-Pesa and now must deal with the threat of disintermediation.
Additional Readings
Chetty, I. 2021. Kenyan insurtech startup secures $6 million. Ventureburn. 26 January 2021. Available at https://ventureburn.com/2021/01/kenyan-insurtech-startup-secures-6-million/. Accessed 12 April 2021.
Chetty, I. 2021. Nigerian edutech startup secures $7.5 million. Ventureburn. 19 January 2021. Available at https://ventureburn.com/2021/01/nigerian-edutech-startup-secures-7-5-million/. Accessed 12 April 2021.
Delport, J. 2021. Vodacom Business enables businesses to digitise their supply chain network. IT News Africa. 27 January 2021. Available at https://www.itnewsafrica.com/2021/01/vodacom-business-enables-businesses-to-digitise-their-supply-chain-network/. Accessed 12 April 2021.
Onyedika-Ugoeze, N. 2021. FG develops policy on digital innovation to support SMEs. The Guardian. 5 February 2021. Available at https://guardian.ng/news/fg-develops-policy-on-digital-innovation-to-support-smes/. Accessed 12 April 2021.
Owings, L. 2021. Africa’s tech hubs giving universities stiff challenge. SciDevNet. 15 January 2021. Available at https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/news/africas-tech-hubs-giving-universities-stiff-challenge/. Accessed 12 April 2021.
PH. 2021. Kenyan startup launches M-health app to ease access to healthcare professionals. How Africa. January 2021. Available at https://howafrica.com/kenyan-startup-launches-m-health-app-to-ease-access-to-healthcare-professionals/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+howafrica+%28How+Africa+and+More%29. Accessed 12 April 2021.
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