Imagine a future where every young African has access to quality education and fulfilling work. That's the bold vision driving EdTech Mondays, but are we truly on track to achieve it? Last week's EdTech Mondays 2025 Partner Convening in Addis Ababa, hosted by the Mastercard Foundation, brought together key players to assess progress and chart the course ahead. The event, themed "Shifting Mindsets, Deepening Impact," provided a crucial platform to examine what's working, what's not, and how to accelerate change.
The Hyatt Regency Hotel in Addis Ababa buzzed with energy on December 3rd and 4th as approximately 60 EdTech partners and stakeholders from across Africa convened. The air was thick with anticipation as participants aimed to not only measure tangible progress but also to showcase the systemic impact of their efforts, all while aligning with the Mastercard Foundation's overarching mission.
Mefthe Tadesse, the Mastercard Foundation's Ethiopia Country Director, set the stage with a powerful opening statement: "Education is a key enabler in our effort to create dignified work opportunities for young people and the disadvantaged." She emphasized the Foundation's Young Africa strategy, grounded in the reality that Africa will possess the world's largest workforce by 2030. "This is why young people remain at the center of everything we do. Their voices, their learning, and their pathways to dignified and fulfilling work are what we all care about. EdTech Mondays is one of the ways we listen to them, learn from them, and co-create solutions with young people at the center."
The Foundation's ambitious Young Africa strategy aims to empower 30 million young Africans by 2030, prioritizing women and disadvantaged groups. Ethiopia alone is targeting 10 million beneficiaries, with specific quotas of 70% women and 10% from displaced or disabled communities, across key sectors like agribusiness, manufacturing, and the digital economy. Since its inception in 2019, the strategy has fostered partnerships between the public and private sectors. While the Foundation has connected over 5 million young people to opportunities, with 63% being women, Tadesse acknowledged the immense scale of the challenge: "Compared to the challenge we face, this is still just a drop in the ocean."
A central highlight of the convening was the presentation of the EdTech Mondays Report Highlights & Progress on the 10 Recommendations, delivered by Suraj Shah, Head of Strategic Partnerships and Thought Leadership at the Mastercard Foundation’s Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL). Shah explained that in 2025, EdTech Mondays prioritized engaging policymakers and implementers, including Ministers of Education and ICT, to share progress, implementation strategies, and calls to action based on the 10 recommendations from the inaugural Mastercard Foundation EdTech Conference in Abuja, Nigeria.
Across eight monthly dialogues broadcast in eight regions, the platform reached a staggering 39.6 million viewers in 2024, representing an impressive 80% increase from 2023. This reach was achieved through televised editions on prominent channels like Kenya’s NTV and Uganda’s NTV, Rwanda’s Kigali Today, WAEMU’s TV5 Monde, and the pan-African CNBC Africa, alongside radio broadcasts on stations like Ghana’s Citi FM, Nigeria’s Lagos FM, and Ethiopia’s Fana FM.
But here's where it gets controversial... Shah emphasized a crucial lesson learned: "One of the clearest lessons emerging from our EdTech Mondays engagements are that technology alone does not transform learning. People do when they listen, collaborate, and act with intention." He stressed the importance of tracking progress against the recommendations, as it provides tangible evidence of system-level change, surfaces emerging innovations, and generates crucial insights for future investment and partnership models. Is technology simply a tool, or does it inherently shape the learning process? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that technology is used effectively to transform learning?
The report also showcased significant system-level changes directly linked to the platform's work. In response to the call for governments to be both enablers and consumers of quality EdTech, the initiative launched an EdTech Policy Academy, engaging twenty-two countries, with five currently developing or reviewing comprehensive national policies with direct support. Furthermore, it has strengthened policy coordination, notably contributing to the development of Nigeria’s National EdTech Strategy through significant inter-ministerial collaboration.
And this is the part most people miss... Through the EdTech Fellowship, curriculum reforms are beginning to take hold, creating conditions that allow EdTech companies to expand their services into public school systems. The program's commitment to inclusion is evident in the fact that 62 percent of Fellowship learners are young women, and the platform has consistently championed frameworks such as Sierra Leone’s National Policy on Radical Inclusion. These efforts have contributed to gradual shifts in institutional attitudes, with some schools now allowing smartphones and tablets as learning tools, according to Suraj. But is this enough? Are schools adequately prepared to integrate these technologies effectively, and are teachers equipped with the necessary training and support?
EdTech Mondays has also demonstrated significant community-level impact by prioritizing localization and lived experiences, operating on the principle that a "one-size-fits-all" approach is ineffective. This focus drives the development of solutions tailored to specific cultural and linguistic contexts. In Kenya, this was evidenced by the initiative dedicating seven out of ten episodes to on-location field stories, a program highlight, to provide a holistic view of EdTech adoption in urban, rural, and community settings. Similarly, the WAEMU region expanded its physical presence into schools and training centers to show EdTech as a "living dynamic" driven by local communities.
During the convening, participants also addressed structural challenges that threaten sustained progress. A primary concern was funding limitations, particularly short-term cycles that hinder long-term planning and sustainability. Partners emphasized a critical gap in dedicated Measurement and Evaluation (M&E) funding, which constrains the ability to assess educational outcomes beyond basic reach metrics and limits the development of a strong evidence base. Difficulty securing consistent, high-level government engagement was also noted as a barrier to direct policy influence. Additionally, participants identified opportunities to strengthen the content strategy for the Africa Edition, such as co-creating solutions with teachers and students, collaborating with major technology firms, telecoms, and foundations, and co-producing content with regional bodies including the African Union, ECOWAS, SADC, and EAC.
Day two commenced with a recap video and context-setting remarks from the Foundation, followed by deep-dive discussions on gaps and priority areas within EdTech Mondays. An Ethiopia-focused town hall drew 30 attendees, reinforcing these calls to action and closing with commitments to alignment, accountability, and platform evolution. Over the two days, the program also featured partner presentations reflecting on implementation across 2024–2025, peer learning exchanges, thematic discussions, a session on storytelling within the EdTech Mondays format, and a strategic planning session.
The convening concluded with closing reflections that distilled two days of rich discussion and urged partners to carry the momentum forward.
EdTech Mondays is an initiative led by the Mastercard Foundation’s Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Launched during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, it began as Facebook Live discussions before expanding later that year into broadcast shows in Kenya and Ghana. By 2021, it had evolved into an integrated, continent-wide monthly conversation, produced in partnership with CNBC Africa and streamed via the Mastercard Foundation Young Africa Works Facebook page.
In Ethiopia, EdTech Mondays was launched in October 2022 as a platform for critical dialogue on technology in education, convening policymakers, entrepreneurs, teachers, and parents. As the Country Director noted, it has since grown into a regular forum where the entire ecosystem connects to foster synergy and drive tangible impact.
Now, it's your turn. What are your thoughts on the role of EdTech in transforming education in Africa? Do you believe the current strategies are sufficient to meet the ambitious goals? What innovative solutions or approaches would you suggest to address the challenges discussed at the convening? Share your insights and opinions in the comments below!
