Study of the EdTech Ecosystem in WAEMU
Request for Proposals
BACKGROUND
ABOUT THE MASTERCARD FOUNDATION
The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organizations to enable young people in Africa and in Indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work. It is one of the largest private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world. It was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. The Foundation is an independent organization and its policies, operations, and program decisions are determined by its own Board of Directors and senior leadership team. It is a registered Canadian charity with offices in Toronto, Kigali, Accra and Nairobi, Kampala, Lagos, Dakar, and Addis Ababa.
ABOUT THE MASTERCARD FOUNDATION CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING
The Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT (CITL) supports the growth of an impactful African EdTech ecosystem that can catalyze innovation and advance promising practices in the use of ICT in learning and teaching to benefit African learners, educators, and policymakers. It does this by supporting countries in Africa to create a blended learning approach and a network of local EdTech companies to support learners at all levels.
CITL’S STRATEGY
According to the Foresight Africa 2022 report, the African continent represents 20 percent of the earth’s surface and is home to 1.3 billion people—likely reaching 2.53 billion people by 2050. It boasts 60 percent of the world’s arable lands, large swathes of forests, 30 percent of the world’s reserve of minerals, and the youngest population of any continent. Sadly, UNESCO’s Institute of Statistics determined that Sub-Saharan African (SSA) has the highest rate of education exclusion in the world. The lack of access to quality and relevant education and skills development across Africa is a major challenge in sustainably addressing young people’s rising unemployment and underemployment on the continent.
With such staggering statistics, CITL’s strategy can spur positive change among young people in Africa by providing them with opportunities to secure dignified and fulfilling work through the use of ICT for learning and teaching.
CITL’s Strategic Roadmap Briefing Note (SRBN) details the specific areas that CITL will focus on in the next 5 years.
EDTECH ECOSYSTEM STUDY IN WAEMU
Introduction
In the section of Strategic Direction, outlined in the above SRBN, CITL will expanded its focus to include all learners and instructors at all levels and to work with Tech Hubs in order to scale the number of EdTech entrepreneurs and companies that are supported. This creates communities of EdTech entrepreneurs around the tech hubs that serve as collectives of excellence. Tech Hubs will incubate and support EdTech entrepreneurs during their growth stages, to scale up their solutions to improve learning outcomes across the continent.
Before CITL can embark on catalyzing the EdTech ecosystem in the West African Economic and Monitory Union region (WAEMU) to respond to the education challenges faced in the respective countries, we must thoroughly understand the state of EdTech in WAEMU. We would therefore like to commission a study to do that.
The objective of this study would be to provide a detailed overview of the EdTech ecosystem in WAEMU to inform the design of an intervention to support local EdTech entrepreneurs (and eventually, Hubs) and strengthen the EdTech ecosystem in WAEMU in collaboration with the respective Ministries of Education.
Scope of work
This study will aim to provide a detailed overview of the EdTech ecosystem based on three main components:
- Defining EdTech in WAEMU: categorization of EdTech companies in WAEMU; examination of the landscape of technology interventions existing in WAEMU
- The supply ecosystem: create a profile of current accelerator programs, create profiles of all the EdTech companies operating in WAEMU (both local and international), and provide an overview of their interventions, scale, and relative maturity
- The demand ecosystem: provide an overview of crucial education challenges in WAEMUopportune for EdTech solutions and map policy initiatives geared towards EdTech development in WAEMU.
Deliverables
The expected deliverables during the duration of the project are detailed below:
- Final comprehensive report in Word which includes:
- A synthesizing of evidence and findings
- Key recommendations
- (Report outline will be approved by Mastercard Foundation).
- Deliver a PowerPoint presentation of the report findings and recommendations and facilitate discussion on the way forward.
- Clean copy of datasets for any data collated to inform the report.
- Database of actors/stakeholders/potential partners and their specific areas of focus
- All of the above are delivered in English and French
Proposal Specifications
English and French copies of proposals should be sent to apouye@mastercardfdn.org by April 28, 2023. Proposals should include:
- A maximum 4-5 page word or pdf document outlining proposed approach to conducting the assignment, including proposed methodology and assumptions made, proposed timelines and budget.
- A company profile highlighting relevant experience, team structure and bios. This can be attached as an annex.
