Businesses are adopting automation, artificial intelligence and remote work and this is overhauling workplaces. Practical, when it comes to skills, are becoming the currency of the job market.

In Nigeria, where more than 60% of the population is under 25, that change in focus is even more pronounced.

A growing youth population, commendable internet access and the spread of digital tools are pushing more young people to look beyond traditional qualifications and towards skills that will guarantee income.

Against this backdrop, certain abilities are standing out in 2026, and so are the platforms helping people acquire them.

Skills Employers Are Prioritising in 2026

Digital and technology-enabled skills are at the top of employers’ wish lists.

• Cybersecurity
• Machine learning,
• Cloud computing and
• Data analytics

These are no longer niche areas reserved for specialists. They are fast becoming core requirements across industries.

The World Economic Forum projects that more than half of the global workforce will need to reskill or upskill before 2030, with digital capabilities forming a large part of that demand.

In Nigeria, this is already visible in recruitment trends across fintech, telecommunications, logistics and media.

Artificial intelligence literacy is also moving into the mainstream. Employers now expect workers to understand how AI tools function, how to use them responsibly and how to integrate them into daily tasks.

Alongside AI, data analysis, cybersecurity, cloud services and basic automation skills are attracting strong demand.

Importantly, these abilities are no longer confined to software developers. Marketing teams use data dashboards. Finance teams rely on automation. Operations managers deploy cloud tools. Even customer support roles now require some level of digital competence.

However, technical knowledge on its own is not enough.

The Rise of Hybrid and Human Skills

With technology becoming embedded in everyday work, human-centred skills are gaining more importance. Employers continue to value problem-solving, communication, adaptability and critical thinking.

These qualities enable teams to work effectively with technology rather than compete against it.

In 2026, candidates with hybrid skill sets are likely to stand out. A marketer who can analyse campaign data, a product manager who understands user research and analytics, or a finance professional comfortable with automation tools will often have an edge over peers with narrow specialisations.

In Nigeria’s competitive labour market, where many young professionals share similar academic backgrounds, this blend of technical and soft skills is increasingly a differentiator.

Online Training Platforms to Watch in 2026

Demand for practical skills is now high, and learning platforms are expanding their offerings, particularly in AI, cloud computing and data. Many now partner with global technology firms to provide recognised certificates.

Alongside global brands, Africa-focused edtech platforms are also gaining ground, offering mobile-friendly courses, flexible payment plans and programmes tailored to local realities.

Below are five platforms attracting attention in 2026.

1. Coursera

Coursera is one of the most widely recognised online learning platforms globally. It partners with leading universities and companies to deliver courses in technology, business, health and the humanities.

Learners in Nigeria use it to earn professional certificates in areas such as data science, project management and IT support, with options to audit some courses for free or apply for financial aid.

Pros:

• University-backed content and globally recognised certificates.
• Flexible learning schedules.
• Broad range of subjects, from AI to leadership.

Cons:

• Paid certificates can be costly for some learners.
• Video-heavy courses require stable internet access.
• Less focus on highly localised content.

2. Udemy

Udemy operates a marketplace model, allowing instructors to create and sell courses. It is known for practical, hands-on training in programming, cybersecurity, design and business skills.

Its frequent discounts make many courses relatively affordable.

Pros:

• Extensive course library covering thousands of topics.
• Regular price reductions.
• Lifetime access to purchased courses.

Cons:

• Course quality varies by instructor.
• Certificates are not formally accredited.
• Some courses lack structured progression.

3. LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn Learning focuses on professional development, offering courses in business, software tools, leadership and creative skills. Its integration with LinkedIn allows users to display completed courses directly on their profiles.

Pros:

• Certificates can be showcased to recruiters.
• Short, focused lessons suited to working professionals.
• Strong coverage of business and workplace skills.

Cons:

• Subscription fees may be high for occasional users.
• Limited depth in advanced technical areas.
• Some content may feel introductory for experienced professionals.

4. AltSchool Africa

AltSchool Africa is a Nigeria-founded platform offering structured programmes in software engineering, data, product design and other tech fields. It combines remote learning with mentorship and practical projects.

Pros:

• Programmes tailored to African learners.
• Focus on job-ready tech skills.
• Flexible study options for working professionals.

Cons:

• Smaller catalogue compared to global platforms.
• Intensive programmes may challenge beginners.
• Certifications are still building global recognition.

5. Utiva

Utiva provides cohort-based training in data, product management and digital skills. Its model emphasises live instruction, peer interaction and real-world projects.

Pros:

• Practical training aligned with industry needs.
• Community support and networking opportunities.
• Content designed with African professionals in mind.

Cons:

• Higher fees than many self-paced courses.
• Narrower subject range than larger platforms.
• Fixed timelines may not suit all learners.

Choosing the Right Skills and Platform

For many Nigerians in 2026, the challenge is beyond access to courses but selecting the right path.

Skills that enable remote work, freelancing and digital entrepreneurship are especially attractive, as they allow professionals to tap into global markets.

With smartphone usage rising, mobile-friendly platforms with offline options and low data requirements are also important.

Cost, credibility of certification and practical relevance should guide decisions. Employers are paying closer attention to demonstrable skills and completed projects, not just paper qualifications.

In summary, continuous learning is becoming a necessity rather than an option. Nigeria’s young population, expanding connectivity and global appetite for digital talent create a window of opportunity.

Those who identify in-demand skills early and invest in credible, practical training platforms are likely to be better positioned in a labour market that is evolving faster than ever.

My journey spans from building an AI-driven learning platform with Utiva and enabling global hiring and engagement with Entrova, two organizations that together form the backbone of my vision to democratize access to tech opportunities across the continent.

Discovering the Gap and Defining My Mission

Growing up in Nigeria, I saw first-hand how brilliant young people often faced limited career outcomes. Universities produced graduates, yet many lacked the practical skills global employers demanded. Meanwhile, companies abroad sought talent but bypassed Africa due to regulatory, payment, and trust barriers.

This gap drove my resolve. I chose not just to mentor or coach but to build the infrastructure that could systematically bridge learning and opportunity.

It was this vision that led me to lead in Utiva’s technology infrastructure for gaining in-demand tech skills and later to build Entrova, which allows global companies to access top talents in Africa.

Leading Transformation at Utiva

At Utiva, I was entrusted with a bold challenge: to design and oversee the systems that would deliver modern, job-ready tech education to thousands of Africans.

I built and managed the entire learning infrastructure, ensuring that courses moved beyond static lectures to immersive, project-based learning. I coded, integrated, and scaled systems that allowed learners to track progress, submit projects, receive mentor feedback, use real-life case studies and capstone projects, and also access internship opportunities and job offers.

I grew and led cross-functional teams of engineers, product managers, and instructional designers, instituting best practices like version control, CI/CD pipelines, peer reviews, and agile workflows. These processes transformed Utiva into a tech-driven, scalable learning hub, with global recognition and awards for its excellence.

The results were profound. Utiva empowered more than 200,000 tech talents to acquire relevant skills, and the apprenticeship program we designed helped over 90,000 learners transition into full-time roles. We expanded to over 19 countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. Our paid cohorts grew steadily, with completion and placement rates soaring to 96%, and monthly engagements surpassing 20,000.

As Eyitayo Ogunmola, Utiva’s founder, often emphasizes, “Schools fail many graduates, but the world demands relevance.” My contribution ensured that relevance was no longer elusive but embedded into the core of Utiva’s learning model.

Scaling the Vision with Entrova

Yet I knew the work was only half done. After training came the real hurdle, securing global roles. Too many graduates faced roadblocks: contracts, compliance, payroll systems, and the perception gap between African talent and global employers.

Entrova was created to close that final gap. At Entrova, I lead technology architecture, ensuring the platform handles end-to-end talent operations: AI-driven talent matching, onboarding, compliance, cross-border payroll, and performance insights.

This is not a job board, it is an operating system for global collaboration. Through Entrova, companies in New York or Berlin can seamlessly hire, pay, and manage developers in Lagos, Accra, or Nairobi.

Utiva’s graduates now flow directly into these opportunities, making the pathway from learning to earning tangible.

By connecting the two platforms, Utiva as the pipeline and Entrova as the gateway, I am constructing a unified ecosystem that powers Africa’s global talent relevance.

Web Summit Qatar 2025 and MENA Partnerships

In February 2025, I also joined Web Summit Qatar, representing Entrova and sharing our vision for global collaboration and expanding opportunities for African talent across the MENA region.

Web Summit Qatar 2025 set high records of over 25,747 attendees from 124 countries, 1,520 startups, and 723 investors gathered in Doha.

At the summit, I explored partnerships for Entrova in the MENA region and deepened our presence among global investors and innovators.

This opportunity aligned perfectly with our mission: to ensure that African tech talent is not only trained but also visible and engaged in the world’s fast-growing innovation ecosystems. Also, we’ve continued working on partnerships with companies in the UK and the USA.

The Market Potential and Urgency

Today the data backs this vision and underscores the urgency of the work I am doing. By 2030, more than 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require some level of digital skills, creating roughly 650 million training opportunities and a multi-billion dollar skilling market across the region, according IFC Report.

Internet penetration and cloud capacity are expanding rapidly, making remote hiring and distributed workforces viable at scale.

Major infrastructure investments are already underway to support that growth, according African Union Digital Transformation Strategy.

Venture funding and startup activity have surged, showing both investor confidence and rising demand for talent to build and operate new products.

Global recruiters are now looking to Africa as a strategic source of developers and digital professionals

Together, these trends suggest that by 2030, Africa will not only supply millions of digitally enabled roles but also host an expanding services economy where platforms that link learning to compliant global hiring will unlock disproportionate value.

Voices in the Ecosystem

The importance of this mission is echoed by respected leaders in Africa’s tech ecosystem.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave, once remarked: “The vision is huge, but it is very difficult to find mission-driven talent that has the courage and competence to execute against the vision.” His words capture the precise challenge that drives my work, turning ambition into competence and competence into opportunity.

Similarly, Eyitayo Ogunmola reminds us: “The greatest factor to success is knowing what others do not know.” That philosophy underpins my approach, building systems and solving frictions that others often overlook.

Industry analysts agree. A BusinessDay feature noted: “By investing in African talent, you are not just hiring workers, you are tapping into a wellspring of innovation, creativity, and determination.” This is the future I am determined to accelerate.

The Impact So Far

• Thousands of Africans now graduate with real project experience, mentorship, and globally relevant skills.
• Global firms have begun to see Africa as a strategic source of skilled talent rather than an afterthought.
• Compliance, payroll, and onboarding hurdles that once excluded African professionals are now being solved.
• Learning and work are no longer disconnected stages but part of one continuous, integrated journey.

Through Utiva and Entrova, I have helped rewrite the narrative: Africa’s tech professionals are not waiting to be discovered, they are ready to deliver.

Looking Ahead

The road ahead is ambitious. My goal is to expand Entrova’s reach across 50+ countries, reduce onboarding times for global companies from weeks to hours, and place tens of thousands of African talents into roles that shape the future of technology.

Challenges remain, quality assurance at scale, regulatory complexity, and global competition, but these are the very challenges that make the mission vital. I am committed to ensuring Africa’s voice in the global tech workforce is not marginal but central.

Conclusion

This is more than my career. It is my calling. I am building systems that outlive me, systems that ensure that Africa’s brightest minds can compete and collaborate globally without borders. From Utiva’s classrooms to Entrova’s cross-border engagements, I am shaping an ecosystem where learning becomes earning, and potential becomes impact.

The story is still being written, but the vision is clear: Africa’s talent is not the future, it is the present. And my role is to make sure the world knows it.

Gabriel Ayodele is working to change that.

“AI research isn’t just about building models,” he says. “It’s about managing data, tracking experiments, and ensuring discoveries can scale beyond the lab.”

Ayodele, a UK-based data infrastructure engineer and Member of the British Computer Society, has developed a modular, cloud-native data stack tailored to the realities of African research environments.

Cited in peer-reviewed studies, the system provides an end-to-end foundation for data ingestion, transformation, model training, and reproducibility.

It’s not just a tool. It’s a launchpad helping researchers and startups build on solid, scalable infrastructure.

Fixing the reproducibility gap

Many African researchers face broken pipelines, limited compute power, and poor experiment tracking.

“You’ll find brilliant minds rewriting scripts and manually syncing data,” Ayodele says. “Reproducibility suffers.”

His stack integrates Apache Airflow, MLflow, Spark, and Postgres into a resilient system optimized for hybrid, low-bandwidth environments. In one accelerator cohort, teams reduced model training time by 60% and improved reproducibility by 40%.

Startups are already benefiting. AgroVue, a precision agriculture company, used the stack to process satellite data and predict crop yields in half the time.

Langbot, a multilingual chatbot spun out of university research, deployed its API through the platform to streamline monitoring for government pilots.

Compared to traditional platforms, Ayodele’s stack delivers 80% of AWS SageMaker’s capabilities at under 20% of the cost, making it highly accessible for budget-constrained labs and startups across Africa.

Several other research-originated projects have since evolved into commercial pilots, closing the lab-to-market gap Ayodele is passionate about solving.

Why it matters

From agriculture and public health to language translation and climate forecasting, African AI research is growing. But many promising projects stall before reaching production or publication quality.

“You can’t scale innovation on fragile foundations,” Ayodele explains. “And you can’t collaborate globally if your work isn’t reproducible.”

The platform includes model drift detection, version control, data lineage tracking, and reproducibility scoring. Several universities are now in talks to adopt it into their AI labs and postgraduate curricula.

Beyond code: Building ecosystems

Ayodele has spoken at AI conferences across the UK and Africa, including the ACM/SEC Conference in Seattle. He mentors early-career engineers through the British Computer Society, the Chartered Institute for IT, and Utiva, focusing on technical skills, research writing, and product thinking.

His research on explainable AI and infrastructure resilience is cited in academic and industrial publications. “When we talk about trustworthy AI,” he says, “we have to start with how we move and monitor data. Trust isn’t built on flashy results. It is built on process.”

What’s next

Ayodele envisions an Africa where every researcher and builder has access to world-class infrastructure.

“Whether you’re a master’s student in Accra or a founder in Kigali,” he says, “you should have tools as robust as what teams use at Google or Snowflake.”

The system has been recognized by technology experts as a promising model for scalable and ethical AI infrastructure in emerging markets.

With open-source components launching and institutional partnerships underway, Gabriel Ayodele’s work is quietly transforming the foundation of African AI, one reproducible system at a time.

The scholarship year is set to kick off on 29 January, 2023 with a virtual launch day.

Binance Charity is the philanthropic arm of Binance, the world’s leading cryptocurrency and blockchain infrastructure provider, while Utiva is a technology education company in Africa that helps young people learn tech skills.

As unemployment rises across the continent, Binance and Utiva remain committed to providing digital education to enable more Africans to explore global career opportunities and secure roles as tech professionals.

This scholarship program has enrolled young Africans between the ages of 18-35 from 19 countries, providing them with a platform to learn technology skills for a 12 month duration. Classes have been designed for beginners in collaboration with Binance Academy and include skills such as web development, front-end development, full-stack development, cloud computing and blockchain modules.

Binance Academy will further support this initiative by providing Web3 crash-course content to students and by offering live and recorded training sessions to Utiva instructors. Upon completion of the program, students will be awarded an NFT certificate as digital & verifiable proof of having successfully completed the program.

“Today, we’re celebrating the 1000 students selected for full scholarships as part of our Binance Charity Scholar Program. This is our most ambitious education outreach to date in the region and the overwhelming positive response further bolsters Africa as a key hub for emerging tech talent. We’re so excited for these young people, as they embark on an exciting new career journey.” said Helen Hai, VP of Binance and Head of Binance Charity.

Angela Naa Yaboley Okantey, a Ghanaian scholar, said: “I am very excited to have been selected for this scholarship program because it will provide me with financial support and opportunities to pursue my professional goals in the tech space as well as interact with other like-minded individuals. Overall, I believe that this scholarship would be an invaluable investment in my future and enable me to be a part of an industry reshaping the world.”

ALSO READ: Binance 2022 Scorecard: Key Facts, Statistics and Developments across the Vast Ecosystem

Renee Ovwigho, a Nigerian scholar, said: “I am thrilled about this opportunity because it would push me toward a successful career in Data Analysis. With many industries adopting blockchain technology recently, this would enable me to learn and provide me with the opportunity to make meaningful contributions to society.” 

Miracle C. Amakom, a Cameroonian scholar, said: “As an engineering student, I’ve been on the lookout for reputable programs to get great training and professional development and I am super excited to be a part of this. Looking forward to my journey of becoming a full stack developer as this has always been my passion.”

The programme includes students across Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya and more. The collaboration aims to build a path for economic prosperity for the continent through skill training and access to vast job opportunities in the technology and Web3 sectors.

This project is part of the wider Binance Charity Scholar Program, enabling the next generation of digital leaders to develop their skills, knowledge and experience without financial barriers. Applications to study as part of this program have surpassed 80,000 worldwide since June last year.

Over $2.2 million in BUSD was donated during 2022 with projects spanning France, Senegal, Nigeria, Australia, Germany, Cyprus, Ukraine, South Africa, and Brazil, offering students the opportunity to study Web3-related courses free of charge.

So far Binance donations have funded 259,180 hours of training and education in the classroom, in boot camps, and in community workshops.

In total Binance Charity will be offering 67,155 scholarship places but many of these are yet to even open to applications.

Binance Charity is partnering with Binance Academy and several top academic and vocational institutions to deliver these projects including the University of Western Australia, the University of Nicosia, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management – Blockchain Center, Simplon, Utiva and Women in Tech, Kyiv IT Cluster and Ministry of Digital Transformation in Ukraine.

“The response to our Web3 education projects has been unprecedented, showing the keen appetite of so many people to learn about blockchain, De-Fi, NFTs, coding, and much more. And, we’re seeing interest from a diverse range of people, including a great ratio of women, which is something I feel particularly passionate about. With so many more education initiatives and amazing pipeline partners, we’ve never been more excited to build a more inclusive Web3 world.” Said Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity.

IT Generation kick-started the global Binance Charity Scholar Program in June, an initiative designed to help Eastern Ukrainians, who have lost their jobs due to the war, to re-train and re-enter the job market in Western Ukraine, in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Transformation.

Other projects include vocational training for 10,000 people, including a specific course for 2000 women reducing the gender gap in the ecosystem and increasing the diversity of talent supply with the Frankfurt School of Blockchain, Germany. In France, we’ve partnered with Simplon to enable 10,000 people from disadvantaged communities in France – where unemployment is rapidly rising – to learn, study and enter the growing Blockchain industry.

“What we saw was interesting–I knew a little bit about the world of cryptocurrency before, but this time I got to learn about blockchain technology. It was clear– I had no idea you could do so much with it. I can’t wait to learn more.” comments Terry Genly, student Simplon.

In Brazil and South Africa, we’re working with Women in Tech to provide vocational training for 2,800 women in rural communities, creating future entrepreneurs and job creation.

And, UTIVA in Nigeria educates 50,000 young people in Blockchain/Web3 and provides scholarships for 1,000 Africans in a 1-year intensive skill training program, supporting them to move into employment.

Courses are available both online and offline, varying in length from short intro classes to a 12-month commitment. Topics include blockchain application, coding, cryptocurrency, decentralization, NFT, Metaverse, Fan token, and Trading.

This is just the beginning of Binance Charity’s education initiative, more projects are set to be announced early this year.

Binance Charity

Binance Charity is a non-profit organization dedicated to unlocking Web3 as a powerful tool for social change.

Its mission is to enable Web3 as a driver of social transformation by making its education and research accessible to all and advancing global solutions for local humanitarian impact.

Binance Charity uses its 100% transparent donation platform to build a future where technology is used as a force for good.

To date, Binance Charity has supported over 2 million end beneficiaries through various projects.

The new partnership between Binancee Charity and Utiva is set to educate 50,000 young people in technology and provide scholarships for 1,000 Africans in a 1-year intensive skill training program.

The education program is aimed at young people (18 – 35) from over 19 countries across Africa. It consists of virtual workshops, which will run every weekend over the next 12 months, where students will learn tech skills and access virtual mentoring as a part of the project design.

Additionally, students who partake in the training will have access to fully funded year-long scholarships, which will provide access to Utiva’s top technology skill training for free. The collaboration aims to build a path for economic prosperity for the continent through skill training and access to vast job opportunities in the technology and Web3 sectors.

“We believe the benefits and vast opportunities of Web3 must be accessible to all. Advancing tech education and professional training are critical to making this happen. We’re proud to be partnering with Utiva, to engage the youth across Africa as we support the continent’s next generation of industry shapers.” said Helen Hai, Head of Binance Charity.

Launched at the Utiva office in Lagos Nigeria on Thursday, October 20, 2022, the workshop hosted about 50 young people who will be a part of the first cohort of people that will access the fully-funded training and sponsorship.

“Africans are talented and hardworking but most times, the constraints of resources can be a major limiting factor when pursuing a laudable aspiration like moving into technology. We are super excited that Binance Charity understands the African pain point and has partnered with us at Utiva to help thousands of Africans and break the barrier to entry for many,” said Eyitayo Ogunmola, CEO of Utiva.

At the launch workshop, students took part in a 4-hour training on Blockchain Technology and Software Development. This is the beginning of a 12-month commitment to the educational program.

Maxwell Maxwell, one of the students said, “It was my aspiration to learn Data Science but I have always been limited by financial constraints. Now, my dreams are close to being fulfilled.”

This initiative is part of the wider Binance Scholar Program launched earlier this year and now has active projects in Ukraine, South Africa, France, and Brazil. The initiative is enabling the next generation of digital leaders to develop their skills, knowledge, and experience without financial barriers.

Designed as a digital marketplace that connects African professionals with global clients, Terawork has steadily evolved into a progressive, resilient, and performance-oriented organization, balancing rapid expansion with long-term sustainability.

From its early stages, Terawork adopted a growth philosophy anchored in fundamentals rather than short-term acceleration.

The organization focused on building reliable systems, clear value propositions, and trust-centered features that could scale across borders. This approach has enabled Terawork to expand its operational footprint across Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone, South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, reinforcing its ambition to serve as a global gateway for African talent.

According to Femi Taiwo, chief executive officer of Terawork, this deliberate pace of growth is intentional.

“We have always believed that building a sustainable company requires patience, clarity, and strong fundamentals,” Taiwo says. “At Terawork, our goal is not just to connect talent to opportunities, but to create a platform that users can rely on for years. That means investing in trust, performance, and systems that hold up as we expand globally.”

This philosophy has guided Terawork’s product and market expansion strategies. One of the most visible outcomes has been the successful launch of the Terawork mobile app across iOS and Android.

The coordinated rollout, supported by targeted regional messaging, contributed to a 25% increase in user sign-ups across Kenya, Ghana, and Sierra Leone within the first quarter after launch, demonstrating strong adoption and market resonance.

Beyond acquisition, Terawork has placed significant emphasis on marketplace quality and repeat engagement.

Through consistent promotion and education around core platform features such as escrow payments, gig and work management tools, multi-currency support, and real-time search, the platform recorded a 15% increase in completed transactions and improved the repeat buyer rate to over 60% across key markets. These metrics highlight a marketplace that is not only growing, but maturing.

Operational excellence has further strengthened Terawork’s sustainability. By reinforcing trust messaging and ensuring clarity around platform safeguards, Terawork has maintained a 98% gig fulfillment success rate across its core regions. This level of reliability is critical in a freelance ecosystem where confidence and consistency directly influence long-term participation.

Commenting on the role of product marketing in achieving these outcomes, Ofunami Wilson, product marketing associate at Terawork, emphasizes the importance of alignment between product, communication, and user needs.

“At Terawork, growth is never separated from responsibility,” Wilson explains. “Our work focuses on ensuring that users clearly understand the value of the platform, how to use its features effectively, and why they can trust it. When messaging, product design, and user experience are aligned, adoption becomes more meaningful and retention follows naturally.”

Terawork has also demonstrated a strong commitment to ecosystem development. Strategic collaborations with talent communities such as Graphic Designers Africa, DATAFAM, Nexford Community Space, and UTIVA helped drive a 20% increase in freelancer sign-ups in Nigeria within 3 months, strengthening the supply side of the marketplace while reinforcing community credibility.

The organization’s disciplined execution and market clarity have attracted international validation.

Terawork was selected for the Village Capital IFC Future of Work Africa Accelerator, where it secured US$20000 in funding to support further expansion and platform enhancement.

The selection reflected confidence in Terawork’s governance, product robustness, and long-term growth outlook.

Internally, Terawork operates with a strong data-driven culture. Performance dashboards, campaign analytics, and customer insights inform decisions around onboarding flows, regional user experience improvements, and roadmap prioritization.

This evidence-based approach enables leadership to allocate resources efficiently while maintaining alignment with strategic objectives.

As the future of work continues to evolve, Terawork stands out as an organization combining ambition with discipline.

Through consistent delivery, strong trust metrics, and a commitment to sustainable growth, the platform is not only expanding access to global opportunities for African talent, but also setting a benchmark for how African technology companies can build enduring, globally competitive businesses.

One of such aspects is education which remains in our everyday lives and is the bedrock of all other sectors. In recent times, education has become a necessity thriving hand in hand with technology, birthing edtech.

The need to combine education and technology has been way before the pandemic which put a rigorous speed to what seemed to have been underestimated. Of course, individuals and groups took this upon themselves, building edtech companies that are thriving and making the sector scale.

Not limited to these, some edtech startups making waves and have shown promising advancement include: 

1. Edukoya

The 24/7 free learning platform enables students to master key subjects and prepare for school and university entrance exams. Edukoya affirms that 96% of its students get higher scores within a short period and students are tutored according to their strengths, helping them get better with time.

A little over a month ago, the Lagos- and London-based startup raised $3,500,000 in pre-seed funding led by European VC firm Target Global to scale operations.

2. Teesas

Interestingly, Teesas enables its students to learn alphabets, greetings, songs, folktales and history in indigenous languages. The edtech platform has an app that enables parents to monitor their child’s learning progress in real-time.

With over 150,000 downloads on the Google Play Store despite being founded less than 2 years ago, Teesas raised $1,600,000 pre-seed funding in December last year. The funds were to enable the startup’s expansion into new markets, launch a marketplace that will link learners with tutors for private lessons, and expand the range of products in its portfolio.

3. uLesson

uLesson asserts that its app has been downloaded by over 2,000,000 people, 12,900,000+ lessons provided by the startup have been watched by students and 25,600,000+ questions from students have been answered by uLesson.

The two-year-old startup closed a $15,000,000 Series B round last year, 11 months after its $7,500,000 Series A, completed by five investors: Tencent, Nielsen Ventures, and existing investors Owl Ventures, TLcom Capital and Founder Collective.

4. Edcent

Edcent offers online courses and training for both universities and companies. The Nigerian-based company provides practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalised learning dashboard that enable users to study at their own pace, within or outside classrooms.

With users within and outside Nigeria, Edcent was also launched in the heat of the pandemic and raised pre-seed funding from CrownVest last year.

5. LearnAM

ScholarX, a Lagos-based edtech startup recently pivoted into LearnAM, a localised mobile platform that provides audio and visual educational content to improve digital literacy and inclusion in Africa.

LearnAM is a mobile platform that provides audio-visual content, in localized languages, to improve digital literacy, digital skills and vocational skills of Africans. The Startup adopts a freemium model and all of its foundational courses are free but users will be required to pay a few thousands to access more advance courses.

LearnAM is available on Android (for smartphone users). You can also access it via KiaOS (for feature phone handlers); in other words, people from low-income households who don’t have access to internet-enabled phones can use the platform on their feature phones.

The startup hit 11,000 users within two months it launched! It plans to reach over 100 million people in Africa, starting from Nigeria where it launched, with the three majority languages: Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa. It also has Pidgin and English languages.

Learners can switch from the English language to any of these local languages when taking a course on the app. It is definitely an edtech startup to watch in 2022

6. Edves

Nigeria and Ghana-based Edves provides a platform where digital learning and teaching is made seamless. Via the platform, parents can monitor their children’s progress in real-time.

Last year, the edtech company serving African k-12 schools raised $575,000 seed funding led by Beta Ventures to improve its technology and reach in over 800 schools across Nigeria, Ghana, and Zimbabwe.

7. Roducate

This is a comprehensive curriculum based e-learning platform launched in 2010. Everything schools need is, on Roducate. Schools can create their own platform on Roducate that mirrors the site’s main platform. The platform comes with a suite of features: Lecture Notes, Videos, Podcasts, Practice Assignments, Mock Exams and My Network–a chat function, within the app, for communication between teachers and students and among students. Learn more about Roducate here.

8. Ed Partners Africa

Ed Partners Africa makes access to quality education seamless. The edtech startup is focused on enabling access to credit for private schools providing education to the low-income populace.

Ed Partners Africa’s $1,900,000 fund raised last year enabled the company to boost its goal in bridging educational gap through school-focused lending and a hub-and-spoke based model where the company’s relationship managers work closely with the school leadership through the entire credit process.

9. Edusko

Edusko is an education marketplace for schools, parents, students, vendors, solution providers, EdTech and Original Equipment Manufacturers. Edusko leverages technology and data to make life easier for schools, parents, students, teachers, donor agencies, policy makers and leading brands that are genuinely interested in the African education ecosystem. 

The platform’s mission is to enhance the quality of and access to education in Africa by creating game changing solutions and platforms for education providers, school leaders, policy makers, teachers, parents and students.

10. Utiva

Utiva is developing talents for the future of work. The company organises a number of fellowships to help customers master certain tech skills like Digital Marketing, Data Science, Data Analysis, Product Manager, UI/UX Designer, and so on. According to them, they are the “best way to gain job-ready expertise for the careers of the future”.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is backing Utiva in a $50,000 partnership meant to help more women and girls learn more premium technology skills. See details here.