The African Union Commission – Innovating Education in Africa Expo 2020

The African Union Commission call for submissions for the Innovating Education in Africa Expo 2020 is now ongoing. This is an initiative that seeks to promote education innovations in Africa.

Basically, it is the third edition of the expo, and will be a virtual series of events and activities from October 2020 – June 2021.

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Background

The advent of COVID-19 has exacerbated challenges in Africa’s education system and reinforces the need for fit for context, innovative and scalable solutions in education. DOTSS provides an approach for reorienting Africa’s education and training systems to meet the knowledge, competencies, skills, innovation and creativity required to nurture African core values and promote sustainable development at the national, sub-regional and continental levels as espoused in CESA.

As a result, there is the need to promote innovation in the entire education and skills development ecosystems, taking advantage of the digital revolution, in order to increase its impact and also ensure that disadvantaged groups are not left out. As the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25) states, ICT is an essential tool for ensuring universal access, quality of provision, and empowerment of school graduates for meaningful personal lives, and contribution to social economic development.  

Since its inception in 2018, the Innovating Education in Africa Expo has continued to gather momentum and established itself as the leading Pan-African event promoting the adoption of Education Innovations in Africa. In light of the above, the African Union Commission (AUC) and Partners across Africa will hold the third edition of Innovating Education in Africa Expo as a virtual series of events and activities from October 2020 – June 2021.

Innovations Being Sought

The innovation should either be in the phase of piloting or implementation in Africa with some demonstrated success. The solutions should focus on one or more aspects of the education delivery system including; data and analytics, teaching and learning management software, teaching and learning materials, connectivity of schools, assessment, education hardware and infrastructure, and school administration. Aditionally, your innovation should satisfy at least one of the following;

1. Enable access to education and improved quality of delivery for those who are unable to access existing services.
2. Demonstrate a scalable, sustainable business and financing model.
3. Provide services to consumers at lower prices than existing alternatives.

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Expo 2020 Eligibility Criteria

Applications are accepted from entrepreneurs aged between 18-35 years. Your organisation should meet the following criteria;

1. Implementing an education innovation in Africa in line with the “background” and “innovations being sought” as defined in the Call for Submissions.
2. Have been a legally registered and operational for not less than 1 year.
3. Should not have previously been awarded in the top 10 category of the Innovating Education in Africa Expo 2018 and 2019.

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Expo 2020 Benenfits

If your application is successful, you will benefit from one or more of the following;

1. Receive cash grants up to 100,000 USD.
2. Innovation promoted to policy makers, investors, and practitioners during the Virtual Exhibition Day.
3. Participate in entrepreneurship training, business incubation and acceleration program towards strengthening business model and scaling up of innovations.
4. Your innovation will be published in the Africa Education Innovations Handbook 2020.
5. Certificate of Recognition from the African Union Commission.

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The deadline for submission is 25th September 2020 by 23:00 (GMT+3). If you meet up the eligible criteria, apply now for the AU Innovation Education in Africa Expo 2020 here; https://www.edu-au.org/submit-innovation

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