Post-pandemic, Exorcising African Edtech’s Many Demons Is A Chore Beyond Casting Lots

For the first time in history, the youngest-ever president in French antiquity did not invite African leaders for the Africa-France Summit in Montpellier on October 8th, 2021. The event—hosting a diverse assemblage of young Francophone Africans rather than, say, 18 heads of states—is one of Macron’s conscious attempts to deterge the decade-old shadowy network known as FrancAfrique. 

Macron’s efforts spring off a new kind of orientation to aiding development in Africa: looking the way of the region’s youngsters. After all, of all world continents, Africa houses the youngest population, with about 40 percent of its total populace aged 15 years and younger as of 2021; the global average, meanwhile, stands at 26 percent. What’s more, in around 40 African countries, over 50 percent of the population is under the age of 20, according to the World Bank. 

What better way to cater to the youngest crop of people in the world than to provide them with quality and affordable educa...