Education & Training

Founded in 1999, OpenLab is a higher education institution offering online and in-class degree and certification courses in new technologies and digital skills. With a mission to combat youth unemployment by providing digital skills, OpenLabs has opened institutions in 5 locations in Ghana: Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi, Tamale, and Tema. By entering into strategic partnerships with renowned technology companies such as IBM, Google for Education, and Huawei, OpenLabs offers its students advanced training in line with the realities of the job market. With over 100,000 students trained, OpenLabs is fully involved in the growth of African tech.
 

THE ENTREPRENEUR

A proven entrepreneur, Dev Varyani began his career in the 1990s with a paper production company in Nigeria. Later, he diversified into health and agriculture. Then, wanting to offer quality education focused on innovation, impact, and employability, he founded the Eureka Africa Group. The group has four higher education institutions covering a variety of fields:

• Blue Crest University, which offers courses in communications, business, and fashion
• Academics City, which trains students in engineering, technology, and entrepreneurship
• Open Labs, a collection of training centers focusing on new technologies and digital technologies
• School Of Fashion And Design, a school specializing in African fashion and design

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

Through its I&P Education and Employment program, I&P is committed to working alongside OpenLabs to:

⇒  Confirm its position as a reference institution by accelerating its digitalization, notably through the acquisition of IT equipment,

⇒  Implement policies and practices to protect learners on campus.

EXPECTED IMPACTS

⇒  To increase the accessibility of young people, women and vulnerable populations to quality training through the scholarship programme

⇒  Strengthen the employability of youth through education adapted to the needs of the local labour market.

A COMPANY SUPPORTED BY THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN I&P AND MASTERCARD FOUNDATION

Since February 2021, I&P has partnered with Mastercard Foundation through its I&P Education to Employment initiative, a blended finance program aimed at improving access to relevant and quality education on the African continent.

The partnership between I&P Education to Employment and Mastercard Foundation specifically aims to support 30 education entrepreneurs in 3 target countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal) over 3 years. The partner companies receive funding and technical assistance to support them in their digital transformation, resilience, and growth strategy as well as in the implementation of social inclusion and employability measurement mechanisms.

Read more

https://openlabs.edu.gh/

I&P Education to Employment program

Codetrain is a coding bootcamp school designed to provide aspiring software developers with the technical skills that will allow them to have a career in the software development industry. The founder, Richard Brandt, first thought about setting up a coding school when he had trouble finding interns with hands-on experience.

«I selected a group of students from various universities and a few high school graduates, and started teaching them how to code. The results were amazing, and one remarkable thing was that their friends kept asking if they could also join the training. That is when I knew that I was doing something that had high impact potential » - Richard Brandt (link)

The school offers two curricula: full stack web development and mobile app development. The program focuses on practical teaching and interactive learning. Codetrain opened its doors in 2017, in the cities of Accra and Kumasi and has since trained 500 students and has a 90% job placement rate.

A graduate in mathematics from Kwame Nkrumah University in Ghana, Richard Brandt began his career as a data analyst. His passion for entrepreneurship caught up with him so he spent two years training at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST). He was taught practical skills in software development and business creation. His first excursion into the entrepreneurial world was for merchants looking to improve their conversion rates. Then, his passion led him to Chile, where he joined an incubator, and then to Germany. In 2017, willing to give the youth the tools to join the digital revolution and impact their communities, he founded Codetrain.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

Through its I&P Education and Employment program, I&P has committed to Codetrain to:

⇒ Support the digitalization strategy through the development of an e-learning platform and the improvement of the video content offer,

⇒ Support the implementation of a scholarship program, especially for young women, and ensure sustainable funding,

⇒ Strengthen the employability rate of students and graduates by recruiting a professional in charge of relations with international and local companies to assist them in their search for internships and jobs.

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

⇒ Expand the accessibility of the training offer across Ghana through the creation of an e-learning platform.

⇒ Enable youth, women and vulnerable populations to access appropriate training through a more flexible scholarship system and payment terms. 60% of the scholarships would be reserved for women.

A COMPANY SUPPORTED BY THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN I&P AND MASTERCARD FOUNDATION

Since February 2021, I&P has partnered with Mastercard Foundation through its I&P Education to Employment initiative, a blended finance program aimed at improving access to relevant and quality education on the African continent.

The partnership between I&P Education to Employment and Mastercard Foundation specifically aims to support 30 education entrepreneurs in 3 target countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal) over 3 years. The partner companies receive funding and technical assistance to support them in their digital transformation, resilience, and growth strategy as well as in the implementation of social inclusion and employability measurement mechanisms.

Read more 

https://codetraingh.com

I&P Education to Employment program

The African Institute of Sciences, Technologies and Trades (IASTM) is a graduate school, offering training in Business Law, Taxation, Insurance, Marketing, Agribusiness, Transit-Logistics, Software Engineering, Accounting in Lome, in Togo.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

IASTM was founded by Boris SEGBENOU MENSAH is a Togolese graduate in Political Science, who after a decade of professional career, embarked on educational entrepreneurship by founding in 2015, UASTM in Niger. After the launch of USATM in Niger, he started the first steps of the school in Togo in 2020. UASTM is a global project to develop a pan-African network of higher education institutions and incubators under the brand UASTM/IASTM.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

IASTM is supported by I&P through the education and employment component of I&P Acceleration in Sahel program (IP2E).

The funding and support provided to IASTM aims at :

• Fitting out and equipping classrooms
• Acquire multimedia for the development of e-learning
• Strengthen the marketing campaign and the positioning of the school 
• Strengthen the company's working capital

The Senegalese education sector's liberalisation has led to the significant development of higher education schools and private universities, providing students with a wide choice. 

Among them, one group stands out, the ISM group with its approximately 10,000 students and its 12 campuses throughout the country (Thiès, Saint-Louis, Mbour, Kaolack, etc.). Located in Casamance in south of the country, the ISM Ziguinchor management school was created in 2006. Its objective is to train the leaders of tomorrow, by promoting a hand on learning and an entrepreneurial approach. Its curricula are based on the LMD system and offer courses in various fields such as finance, law, human resources, management, etc. These programs are open not only to students but also to young professionals.  

At the same time, to fight the school dropout rate that affects the region, ISM Ziguinchor has launched in 2019 the École des Savoirs-Faire (ESF), a technical and vocational training school. The ESF allows high school dropouts or non-baccalaureate holders to acquire professional skills that facilitate their insertion into the labor market. In addition to vocational certificate programs, ESF also offers intensive preparation courses for the Baccalaureate exam. 

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Georges Bernard Ndeyes is the general administrator of ISM Ziguinchor. He was trained in management at ISM, followed by a degree in history from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar.  He returned to ISM in 1988, where he served as project manager and then assistant to the director¸ in charge of implementing the group in Casamance. 

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

Through its I&P Education and Employment program, I&P has committed to ISM Ziguinchor to : 

⇒ Make targeted investments (equipment, pedagogical content, teacher training and academic partnerships) 

⇒ Strengthen their digital capacity through the acquisition of more modern computer equipment 

⇒ Promote greater social inclusion within the school by funding scholarship programs, with a focus on women's empowerment. 

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

⇒ Improve the attractiveness of the training offer throughout the Casamance region and in neighboring countries 

⇒ Strengthen the local employability of youth 

⇒ Enable youth, women and vulnerable populations to access adequate training through a scholarship system 

A COMPANY SUPPORTED BY THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN I&P AND MASTERCARD FOUNDATION 

Since February 2021, I&P has partnered with Mastercard Foundation in its I&P Education to Employment initiative, a joint financing program aimed at improving access to relevant and quality education on the African continent. 

The partnership between I&P Education to Employment and Mastercard Foundation specifically aims to support 30 education entrepreneurs in 3 target countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal) over 3 years. The partner companies will receive funding and technical assistance to support them in their digital transformation, resilience, and growth strategy as well as in the implementation of social inclusion and employability measurement mechanisms. 

More information

www.ismcasamance.sn

Learn more about the I&P Education to Employment program 

The ISI group (Institut Supérieur d'Informatique) is a private educational group, founded in 1994. The group represents 2,500 students, spread over 9 campuses of which 7 campuses are located in Senegal and 2 in Mauritania. The ambition of the group is to participate in the training offer diversification in Senegal and the sub-region. The opening of campuses in the regions is a strong aspect of its strategy, willing to participate in the revitalization of the Senegalese regions. ISI Group offers training in 2, 3 and 5 years in the fields of computer engineering, networks and systems, and management. 

In 2019, the group entered into a partnership with Huawei, one of the world's leading providers of infrastructure and smart devices in the field of information and communications technology (ICT). This partnership trains students in ICT and provides essential digital skills. 

THE ENTREPRENEUR

An engineer by training and a graduate of Laval University in Canada, Mr. Abdou Sambe also holds a degree in business administration from Cheick Anta DIOP University in Dakar, Senegal. He has been leading ISI since its creation in 1994. The promoter has a very social vision for access to quality training for all, hence the decentralization of its campuses throughout the country for better social inclusion. 

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P 

Through its I&P Education and Employment program, I&P is committed to working with the ISI Group to: 

⇒  Supporting the development of online training. 

⇒  Strengthen the school's resilience to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

⇒  Promote greater social inclusion within the school by revitalizing the employability of young graduates from regional campuses through the establishment of professional insertion space  

⇒  Develop training offers suited to local labor markets’ dynamics  

EXPECTED IMPACTS 

⇒  Increased quality of training and stronger employability of youth 

⇒  Enhanced digitization and accessibility in the rural regions 

⇒  Improved sustainability of the regional campuses with more adapted offerings and lasting social impact locally 

A COMPANY SUPPORTED BY THE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN I&P AND MASTERCARD FOUNDATION 

Since February 2021, I&P has partnered with Mastercard Foundation in its I&P Education to Employment initiative, a joint financing program aimed at improving access to relevant and quality education on the African continent. 

The partnership between I&P Education to Employment and Mastercard Foundation specifically aims to support 30 education entrepreneurs in 3 target countries (Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal) over 3 years. The partner companies will receive funding and technical assistance to support them in their digital transformation, resilience, and growth strategy as well as in the implementation of social inclusion and employability measurement mechanisms. 

Read more about the project 

www.groupeisi.com

I&P Education to Employment

PlayLabs is a network of childcare centers and innovative nursery schools in Senegal.

These preschool institutions welcome children from 10 months to 5 years old, from Monday to Friday and from September to June. They provide children with adapted early learning activities answering their needs in terms of cognitive, socio-affective, and psychomotor development. The programs deployed in these institutions are aligned with the Senegalese education program (for kindergarten) but based on Regina Emilia's educational approach, which is innovative. It promotes learning activities through games, education projects sessions' organization, children's commitment to knowledge acquisition, and parents' active participation. 

THE ENTREPRENEURS

The project is led by two entrepreneurs, Karima Grant and Chakera McIntosh.

Karima Grant is passionate about education and has accumulated a solid experience in this field thanks to numerous professional and association experiences. She notably has been the coordinator of an international baccalaureate program and has supported as a consultant the launch and development of three Higher Education Institutions in Senegal. Her experience and its association experience have contributed to making her a reference in the education field in Senegal and internationally. She is a member of the Ashoka network, which is an international network of social entrepreneurs who act in favor of social innovation.

Chakera McIntosh is supporting Karima Grant in this project. She has a Bachelor's Degree in International Communication from the American University of Paris (AUP) and a Master's Degree in Mitigation and Diaspora Studies from London University. She has worked for several years in the marketing and communication field.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P AND TERANGA CAPITAL

Kies is supported by Teranga Capital through the I&P Acceleration in Sahel program. This support will help the company in:

• Stabilizing the existing infrastructure with the reinforcement of the current infrastructures (in Mermoz and Somone)
• The implementation of an efficient marketing and business development strategy, the improvement of the company's organization with the formalization of its curriculum, procedures, training modules for facilitators, etc.
• The strengthening of the accounting and financial functions and the reinforcement of the company's service offer
• The deployment of two new daycare centers in 2022

ABOUT DE TERANGA CAPITAL

Teranga Capital is the first impact investment fund dedicated to financing and supporting Senegalese SMEs and start-ups.

Led by Olivier Furdelle, Teranga Capital is the third African fund sponsored by Investisseurs & Partenaires as part of the program I&P Development 2. The network currently includes a fund in Niger (Sinergi Niger), Burkina Faso (Sinergi Burkina), Côte d'Ivoire (Comoé Capital) and Madagascar (Miarakap).

Access Teranga Capital's website →

Lomé Business School ( LSB) is a university offering training courses in Information Technology Management  and Business Management in Lomé, Togo. LBS opened  in 2013 with 13 students and has 117 students today. 30% of the students are coming from 8 countries in the West African sub-region, Cameroon and Gabon.

THE ENTREPRENEURS

Born in Côte d'Ivoire, Fulgence Amani (CEO of LBS) studied in Côte d'Ivoire and in France. As a telecommunication engineer from ITES (Institut des Technologies et Spécialités), he worked as an IT engineer in Abidjan before continuing his studies in France where he got a master's degree in finance at SKEMA. After several years in IT Management in France at Total and Capgemini, he worked as an IT and Fintech consultant and worked with clients such as Orange Bank, Ernst & Young and Société Générale in Africa. For the past ten years, Fulgence Amani has also held teaching positions at USTA-Ouagadougou and ESSCA Paris in addition to his consulting activities before co-founding LBS with his wife, Patience Adjivon.

Marketing Director of LBS, Patience Adjivon holds a master's degree in R&D and Biotechnology from Paris VI. With a rich professional background on missions as a laboratory researcher in healthcare in France (Institut Jacques Monod, Institut Cochin, Sanofi, Pierre Fabre) and at Cap Gemini as a Fintech project coordinator, she co-founded LBS.

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

LBS is supported by I&P through education and employment component of I&P Acceleration in Sahel program (IP2E).

The funding and support provided to LBS aims to :

• Set up an e-learning platform to digitalize a large part of the training program
• Strengthen the pedagogical equipment of the school
• Set up a pedagogical engineering process including aspects related to digitalization

EXPECTED IMPACTS

• Strengthen access to quality higher education in Togo

The Lycée Privé Technique Moderne de Koudougou (LTMK) is a technical secondary school created in 2017, located in Koudougou, Burkina Faso, about a hundred kilometers from Ouagadougou.

The school has 207 students and offers initial training (BEP and BAC) in the fields of electronics, civil engineering and electrical engineering. The school will open in 2021-2022, a cycle of classical secondary education from the 6th to the 10th grade.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

Mr. KABORE is a 37 year old Burkinabé, holder of a DUT in commercial management and a Master in Marketing and Business Intelligence from the African Institute of Management (IAM Ouaga). After fifteen years of experience in teaching and recruitment, he opened the Institut Supérieur de l'Eau, du Bâtiment et de l'Energie à Ouagadougou (ISEBE) in 2013, a training center based in Ouagadougou that offers training in civil engineering, geology and energy engineering. In 2017, three years after the opening of ISEBE, Mr. KABORE decided to open LTMK with the main objective of providing students with tools for entrepreneurship or giving them a solid foundation before entering a higher education institution. 

PARTNERSHIP WITH I&P

LTMK is supported by I&P through I&P Acceleration in Sahel program dedicated to education and employment (IP2E).

EXPECTED IMPACTS

The funding and support provided to LTMK aims at :

• The location, installation and the supply of 10 classrooms for the opening of a classical teaching cycle 
• The purchase of materials for equipments of a laboratory of practical work (TP)
• The funding of the working capital requirement

L’Ateliers Des Génies is a startup founded in 2015, which develops programs and activities for children aged 4 to 16 and youth aged 17 to 25. The company offers several programs related to digital literacy, robotic programming, algorithm, coding and web design to equip learners with problem-solving skills, stimulate critical thinking and develop analytical skills.

THE ENTREPRENEUR

L’Atelier des Génies was founded by Fatima SARR, who started her entrepreneurial career at a very young age, completing a degree in web design. She was project coordinator at oxford business group. She then launched, before the creation of Atelier des Génies, two startups that worked for large international companies such as Google and large projects of Government Agencies, and accompanies business leaders in the development of their Business Development strategies.

PARTNERSHIP WITH TERANGA CAPITAL

The Atelier des Génies benefited from the PACE program implemented in Senegal by Teranga Capital. 

The expected impacts at the end of the partnership are :

• The popularization of digital culture
• The reinforcement of the training of children by digital notions
• The formalization of employees and the creation of jobs

About Teranga Capital

Teranga Capital is the first impact investment fund dedicated to the financing and support of Senegalese SMEs and start-ups. Headed by Olivier Furdelle, Teranga Capital is the third African fund sponsored by Investisseurs & Partenaires under the I&P Développement 2 program. The network currently includes a fund in Niger (Sinergi Niger), Burkina Faso (Sinergi Burkina), Ivory Coast (Comoé Capital) and Madagascar (Miarakap). → Find out more about Teranga Capital

Ed Partners Africa is a non-banking financial institution that aims to provide adapted financial solutions to the education sector and especially to affordable schools in East Africa.

Context

In Kenya, the rapid urbanization combined with the rising income levels have increased the demand for private schools as the quality of public schools is wanting. In 2018, there were 52,000 registered and unregistered private schools in the country that focused on primary and secondary enrolments. Ed Partners currently lends to both affordable and middle-income schools, affordable schools being those with annual school fees below USD 300. By mid-2021, the company had disbursed a total of USD 1.5 mililon to over 140 schools.

The government has until now turned a blind eye to the existence of these schools, but has recently mandated that all schools with non-compliant infrastructure will be shut down. This is therefore incentivizing already registered schools to upgrade their infrastructure and for unregistered schools to start the registration process and to begin investing in compliant infrastructures. Therefore, most schools will require additional investment in equipment and basic infrastructure.

In this context, Ed Partners aims to fill the gap in the current market by providing customized products, understanding schools’ special needs and proposing tailored complimentary services to affordable schools in Kenya and in the long term in the region.

The model was conceived by replicating the proven business model of Varthana, a school financing company in India, with 7 years of experience and a current portfolio size of USD 157 million provided to over 3,500 schools.

The entrepreneurs

Ed Partners was founded by a team of 4 microfinance experts with on average 15+ years of experience in impact investing and in microfinance in East Africa and in India. Together, these founding members bring their expertise and network to support the roll-out of the project in the region.

Ed Partners is currently managed by Amos Mwangi who is the CEO. Amos has 17 years of experience in business development, sales, credit management and leadership. He previously worked 6 years as a Business Development Manager at Faulu Microfinance Bank in Kenya where he oversaw 44 branches in 38 locations. Before Faulu Microfinance, he worked at Equity Bank and Family Bank in various roles at both branch and head office level. Amos holds a Masters in Banking and Finance from Moi University and achieved complementary business and finance studies at Kenyatta University.

Partnership with I&P

The partnership between Ed Partners and I&P (through its fund I&P Afrique Entrepreneurs 2) aims to:

⇒ Ensuring a wider geographical coverage with the opening of 6 additional hubs in 6 counties in Kenya

⇒ Funding EdPartners’ loan book. The company anticipates a rapid growth of the loan book to reach 6,000 loans disbursed to about 3,000 schools in the next 5 years

⇒ Supporting further expansion into the rest of East Africa within the next few years, where there is significant demand for the products offered by Ed Partners

Expected Impacts

Ed Partners has the potential to have an important impact on the education sector in Kenya and in the long term in East Africa.

The company enables improvement in the quality of education offered by middle-income and affordable schools by providing access to adapted financial solutions and coaching.