#11: African EdTech & lessons from Byju's - The story of the world's most valuable EdTech company & the emerging opportunities for technology to scale education across Africa

Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about Byju's & Edtech in Africa. We'll start with some context about African education, discuss Byju's success in India as a reference point, major edtech African players & the future of the African edTech ecosystem

 

Companies discussed: Byju’s, Naspers, uLesson, Kio Kit / BRCK, Gebeya, Ubongo, M-Shule, BeBlocky, Elham Inspire, MySkoolPortal, Tuteria, MTN, Vodacom & ZEduPad

 

Business concepts discussed: Educational technology, Africa infrastructure development, product localization, new product development, technological leapfrogging & equity fund raising 

 

Conversation highlights:

• (02:21) - Why the Byju’s story is important to Africa
• (03:35) - What is “EdTech” & what are the different segments?
• (05:41) - Context of education in Africa pre-colonial and colonial influence
• (08:44) - Challenges with formal education in different African countries
• (18:12) - Challenges for EdTech in Africa
• (20:35) - India education & Byju's background 
• (25:53) - Byju’s growth, localization, expansion & fundraising
• (33:31) - Byju’s today
• (35:20) -  How can EdTech be adapted to African conditions?
• (39:54) - Profiles of EdTech companies in Africa
• (55:45) - uLesson overview & similarity to Byju’s
• (01:05:17) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
• (01:11:55) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
• (01:17:41) - Bankole’s recommendation and small wins
• (01:23:08) - Olumide’s recommendation and small wins

 

Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

• Recommendation: TEDx - The Importance of Education | Edna Adan Ismail
• Small win: Spending hours getting lost on Byju's YT channel

 

Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

• Recommendation: The Book of Why by Judea Pearl
• Small win: Got a Whoop Band this week - it is an always-on, no-display, no notification wristband that tracks performance and recovery metrics and transmits to your phone.
• Other content mentioned: How Indian Tutoring App Provider Byju’s Got So Big | EdSurge News - link
• Other content mentioned: Lagos and Manila: A Tale of Two Cities | bankole.org - link
• Other content mentioned: 94 companies from Y Combinator’s Summer 2020 Demo Day 2 | TechCrunch - link
• Other content mentioned: Electricity and education: The benefits, barriers, and recommendations for achieving the electrification of primary and secondary schools | UNDESA - link

 

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