Jacobs Foundation calls for “culture shift” to put evidence at the heart of Africa’s $1.5 billion Edtech industry

The Jacobs Foundation called on investors, edtech companies, and academia throughout Africa and around the world to deepen their collaboration and integrate more research in the development of new edtech products. The Foundation also urged edtech venture capital funds to make greater use of evidence in investment decision-making, as analysts predict that the African edtech market, currently valued at $1.5 billion, will exceed $10 billion by 2026.
The Jacobs Foundation made this call ahead of May’s World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, where world leaders will convene under the theme, ‘Working together, restoring trust’. They will look at the role of public-private cooperation in rebuilding trust and shaping a more sustainable future. This comes after the pandemic disrupted learning for more than 1.5 billion students throughout the world.
To help further this drive, the Jacobs Foundation has committed CHF 40 million ($44 million) globally to foster greater cooperation between edtech investors, start-ups, and researchers. These key actors will convene in May this year at the Jacobs Foundation’s Unlocking the Impact of Edtech Conference in Germany, where they will discuss ways to make more and better use of evidence in edtech.