Elma invests in edutech company Mwabu

21 Aug 2017

Elma Investments, the impact investment arm of the Elma Group of Foundations, whose mission is to improve the lives of Africa's youth through the support of sustainable efforts to advance education, improve health, and relieve effects of poverty, has taken up 100% of Mwabu's Series B investment round.

Mwabu, an award winning education technology company, recently launched its Mwabu Academy and CAPS-aligned e-learning content for primary schools. The four schools in KwaZulu-Natal, in which Mwabu has been introduced, are already experiencing considerable success.

Mwabu has provided high-calibre educational tools to more than 500,000 learners and teachers in Zambia since 2013. Evidence from multi-year studies in Zambia, comparing the progress of Mwabu learners with control classes, shows that Mwabu learners are performing significantly better in terms of numeracy and literacy. The company is also working in Kenya and Tanzania with plans for further expansion.

Looking to expand language offering

With the closing of this round of investment, Mwabu will expand its education solutions and academy services and increase the number of languages into which its content is translated. Currently eight local languages are offered in Zambia for Grades 1-3. In South Africa, content is currently produced in English, but plans are underway to introduce multi-language content, including Zulu and possibly Afrikaans.

“We are delighted to announce this significant step forward in our plans for growth. Through this investment we will be able to extend the educational possibilities for millions of African learners,” says Justin Reilly, CEO at Mwabu.

Heather Sherwin, director of Impact Investments for Elma Philanthropies, adds, “Education technology is an important tool in helping to achieve greater literacy and numeracy outcomes in schools, especially if it is customised to accommodate local linguistic, cultural and contextual requirements. We believe Mwabu will continue to be an innovative leader in this field.”

For more information, go to www.mwabu.com.