Tech-based education publisher, Starcloud is among Estonia’s private sector players to launch operations in Kenya through partnerships with local educational stakeholders. The partnerships are aimed at helping Kenya modernize the delivery of learning at early childhood, primary, and secondary levels in line with the Competency Based Curriculum(CBC) via digital libraries.
‘’With the assistance of the Estonian honorary consul Ms. Kadri Humal-Ayal, we understood Kenya’s education market challenges and realized that there is significant potential for our product and expertise here,’’ noted Antii Rammo, the founder of StarCloud’s local subsidiary, Opiq.
Opiq, which launched its Kenyan office last year, has managed to digitize CBC-approved textbooks from many local educational publishers onto its cloud-based learning platform, Opiq. The firm has since enrolled 50 schools onto its platform which is available across the country with individual students also subscribing to the platform.
Speaking at the event attended by nine edutech companies from Estonia in Nairobi, Estonia Deputy Minister for Economic and Development Co-operation Mariin Ratnik said her government had established a public-private sector partnership forum, Enterprise Estonia to support Estonian enterprises do business across the world as well as attracting foreign investment to Estonia.
Raila Odinga confirms he was fired from the AU position
‘’Estonia recently sponsored 20 Kenyan students to undertake information technology and communication training in Estonia universities and companies where upon their return, they will be able to localize popular Estonia game apps to suit local tastes and cultures,’’ the Deputy Minister noted while highlighting how the two-year agreement between Kenya and Estonia was already yielding positive benefits for local youth.
In an interview, Ms Humal-Ayal said Estonia’s taxi-hailing App, Bolt was enhancing its partnerships with its local partners to enable drivers and riders on its platform to acquire electric-based vehicles. “This is the partnership that we seek to enhance where we both benefit via the acquisition of new skills and better earnings,” she said.
Enterprise Estonia, whose offices were set up in Nairobi last year, has been playing a pivotal role in linking Estonian businesses with Kenyan entrepreneurs as well as enabling public sector entities to attract new investments in diverse fields. Including Education. Estonian organizations represented at the event included Education Estonia, Estonian ICT Cluster, Triumf Health, Star Cloud, ADM Interactive, Nortal, AdoptoMedia, Wisercat Software, and Digiotouch.
