Eneza Education
Eneza Education is an edtech company that provides affordable, accessible educational content to students in rural Africa via mobile phones. The platform offers lessons, assessments, and individualized feedback through SMS on basic feature phones, without requiring internet access. Students can take quizzes, ask questions to teachers, and receive responses within 5 minutes. The service is available for a low daily subscription fee charged through mobile airtime. Since 2012, Eneza has reached over 10 million learners across multiple African countries. Studies have shown that students using Eneza score 22.7% higher than their peers and spend an additional 2 hours per week studying. The platform leverages the widespread availability of basic mobile phones in Africa to increase access to quality educational materials for underserved students.
The US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has also played a role in Enezas financing through its support of the Unreasonable Capital Investment Fund, which in turn invests in Eneza Education.
This means Enezas financing approach combines direct user payments with institutional investments, allowing it to maintain a sustainable business model while reaching millions of learners across Africa.
Pros
Leverages widely available mobile technology to reach rural students
Low-cost model makes education accessible to low-income families
Provides personalized learning and feedback at scale
Supplements classroom education with additional study materials
Cons
Relies on students having access to at least a basic mobile phone
Limited by SMS/text capabilities of feature phones
Dependent on partnerships with telecom companies for delivery
Partners
US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
IDP Foundation
Local mobile telecommunications companies