Evaluating Progress Made in Africa’s EdTech

Throughout 2024, The Mastercard Foundation EdTech Mondays Africa edition has held a series of monthly conversations with various education stakeholders on what it will take for Africa to incorporate EdTech within the continent’s education landscape. The first half of the year delved into two themes namely: 1. Policies, investments and partnerships needed to propel an EdTech-led education, and 2. emerging trends and practices in education such as the role of Artificial Intelligence, role of Big Data and gamification. The second half majorly looked at diversity, equity and inclusion of EdTech solutions to special groups including refugees and people living with disabilities.

The conversations sought to provide evidence of opportunities, gaps and impact of EdTech deployment in Africa with various experts exploring ways of empowering educators beyond the traditional ‘chalk-and-board’ teaching method

The year-long discussions were woven around the African Union’s declaration of 2024 as the ‘Year of Education for the continent with the theme: Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa. The theme resonated with the inaugural Mastercard Foundation EdTech Conference held between in Abuja, Nigeria that brought together 600 stakeholders from over 30 countries in Africa.