Africa’s youth population represents a significant economic opportunity and a real risk if we get this wrong. The continent’s youth population aged 15–24 is expected to increase by around 42% by 2030, with the number of young people entering the African labour force projected to exceed the rest of the world combined by 2050.
Gigi Ngcobo, Venture Scale Lead at Injini
At the same time, an estimated 98 million children remain out of school, nearly 90% of learners cannot read and understand a simple text by age 10, and Africa will need 15–17 million additional teachers by 2030 just to meet basic demand.
Leveraging this opportunity for our collective future hinges on equipping this generation with 21st-century skills, and that starts with education, but the current system simply cannot scale through brick and mortar alone.
By now, it is well recognised that educational technology (edtech) has the potential to measurably impact educational outcomes. But it means shifting focus from the tangible hurdles, including devices, bandwidth and infrastructure, to the intangible factors that profoundly impact education.
In 2026, the conversation and the focus must move beyond the tools to creating an ecosystem within which edtech can thrive. This will require navigating the ‘second-order barriers’ – the human, cultural and contextual factors – to drive widespread and sustainable edtech adoption across Africa. Africa is a market projected to grow from roughly $3.4bn in 2024 to about $7.7bn by 2033, with some estimates placing the potential closer to $19–20bn by 2034.
Based on Injini’s work across the continent, here are the seven critical shifts that will shape the edtech landscape in 2026 and beyond.
1. Shifting from access to readiness
The days of simply delivering the hardware to a school and hoping for the best are over. We have enough evidence now to know that “device dumping” does not translate into learning. In Rwanda, for example, large-scale laptop distribution did not significantly improve motivation or outcomes in maths or reading when not paired with the right support and pedagogy.
Yes, the hardware and software are needed, but relevant edtech solutions are about more than the technical brilliance behind them; instead, it’s about the level of edtech readiness in the specific community where the solution will be rolled out.
Across the entire ecosystem, all role players and stakeholders need to commit equally to the adoption of edtech in order for it to work. It’s the human environment that must adopt, adapt and sustain the solution. The winning models are already the ones bundling hardware with solar, teacher training, low-bandwidth content and strong school leadership, not just counting devices per learner.
Why edtech is key to unlocking Africa’s potential
2. Teachers as co-creators
The role of the teacher can never be overlooked or underestimated. At Injini, we’ve seen firsthand how great initiatives with good intentions fail because the teacher is treated as a passive recipient of a new mandate.
Research is unambiguous: teacher effectiveness is the single biggest driver of learning. A one-standard deviation increase in teacher quality can translate to around a 0.1–0.15 standard deviation improvement in student performance, comparable to some of the most effective large-scale interventions. Against this backdrop, a sophisticated, AI-powered platform that sidelines the teacher is not just misguided; it is economically irrational.
The most successful EdTech models are those that treat teachers as active collaborators and innovation partners. A sophisticated, AI-powered platform only reaches its full potential when the teacher feels empowered and confident to integrate it into their pedagogy. Sustainable, relevant EdTech solutions also incorporate adequate and ongoing support into the offering. Even better is involving teachers in the initial design process to leverage their lived experience in the classroom.
3. An expanded definition of literacy
While achieving basic, traditional literacy remains a key priority for all, the ability to read and write is just half the battle. In many African countries, nearly 90% of children cannot read and understand a simple text by age 10. That is the starting crisis. In a digital-first world, literacy must be expanded to include critical thinking, complex problem-solving and digital navigation skills.
This involves empowering learners as more than passive recipients of information. EdTech must be designed to address an expanded definition of literacy that offers learners the tools and techniques to critically differentiate between accurate information and misinformation, navigate AI-enabled tools and solve real-life problems in their communities.
The question for any edtech solution in 2026 is no longer just “Does this help learners pass exams?” but “Does this help them think, adapt and participate in a digital economy?”
Adapting AI to tackle education inequality in Africa
4. Cultural resonance as a competitive advantage
It’s tempting to see ‘Africa’ as a homogeneous whole and that the continent merely needs a single solution to improve educational outcomes. But with 54 countries, hundreds of languages and rich and diverse cultural contexts, it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation.
Evidence from South Africa shows that learners tested in their home language (Afrikaans or English) score dramatically higher than peers tested in a second or third language, even when they are of similar age and background.
In 2026, the fastest-growing and most impactful edtech solutions will be those designed with local nuance from the ground up. “Developed in Africa, for Africa” is more than a clever marketing line; it’s a strategic advantage.
Solutions must authentically reflect specific values, learning styles and regional curricula. We’re already seeing this with platforms that serve over a million learners in Wolof in Senegal, or SMS-based learning tools in East Africa delivering content in multiple local languages. They understand that it is about building trust, garnering stronger community support and creating sustainable pathways for growth.
5. Community-driven adoption is central to sustainability
It is imperative that edtech implementations pay heed to the crucial role parents and caregivers, community leaders and school administrators play in edtech adoption. This is especially true in lower-income communities where these stakeholders serve as validators of a particular educational approach.
Edtech innovators must prioritise community-led adoption. When school leadership champions edtech integration and aligns it with school goals, technology shifts from a disruption to a sustainable enabler. When parents receive simple SMS reports on learner progress, even in low-literacy contexts, the home becomes an extension of the classroom.
In a context where the student is often the user but the parent or community is the buyer or the gatekeeper, community resonance is not a “nice-to-have”; it is central to retention and long-term use.
Empowering teachers: The key to edtech success in Africa
6. User experience and connection trump product features
Edtech, not unlike solutions in other industries, is increasingly less about the product and more about the feeling and the experience of using the technology. The solution needs to create a connection with the user, a feeling of trust, clarity and empowerment. This is not abstract.
Globally, software products – and edtech is no exception – can have retention rates as low as 4% when the user experience is misaligned with context. Because education is about so much more than mastering a subject. It empowers individuals with the capacity for critical examination, which is the absolute foundation for tackling inequality, systemic prejudice and oppression.
It also develops critical and creative thinking, which may be the foundation of equality in the world. An edtech solution that grasps this and wins the trust of the user through intuitive design, transparent data use and genuinely supportive experiences, may well change our future for the better.
7. Investment shifts from quantity to quality
The edtech funding landscape across the continent is maturing to prioritise strategic, long-term impact and profitability, with a crucial focus on models that confront second-order barriers. The era of “growth at all costs” is over.
Between 2022 and 2024, overall venture funding into African startups fell sharply, with some estimates putting the decline in total funding at over 50% from the highs of 2021, even as deal volumes dropped far less. This indicates smaller cheques, more discipline and a clear push towards sustainable unit economics. Measurable impact matters and we will continue to see investors demanding clear evidence of measurable learning outcomes and sustainable unit economics.
While global capital remains important, a greater share of investment is expected to come from African-based funds, pension-backed vehicles and regional funds with deep local market knowledge. These investors are more likely to understand currency risk, public sector timelines and the realities of serving low-income learners. They are also more likely to prioritise context-specific, “Developed in Africa, for Africa” solutions, which must enjoy priority.
Investments will increasingly reflect an understanding that achieving sustainable scale and widespread adoption often requires working directly with established educational institutions and government bodies, while still tapping into private schools, TVET colleges and corporate upskilling markets.
This evolution signifies a critical turning point where investors are not just buying into the idea of digital education, but into the execution of sustainable and impactful solutions that can truly scale across the continent’s diverse markets.
