Tanzania - Startup under 3 years old

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Fiqra Academy is an online learning platform that serves to help educators effortlessly create and distribute educational content that bridges the gap between industry needs and academia. Therefore, helping learners gain marketable skills.

01.01 Describe your startup in more detail

Fiqra Academy is a flagship product of Fiqra Technologies. Formerly known as VijanaTech, Fiqra technologies Limited is a company registered in Tanzania. At the forefront of revolutionizing education and Information Technology (IT) solutions, Fiqra Academy aims to equip African youth with progressive and industry relevant in-demand skills through leveraging the knowledge base of industry trainers or instructors with relevant expertise who create online courses that improve learning outcomes of youth in their skill development. Thus, helping learners develop marketable skills. Fiqra Academy is a mobile and web-based learning platform that offers affordable and flexible access to a range of digital and vocational courses tailored to the African context. Fiqra Academy works with individual and organizational expert instructors and trainers to co-design their educational content into a micro-learning video and/or text based online course thus making learning more inclusive and accessible.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

Fiqra Academy aims to address the challenge of limited accessibility to quality digital and vocational education and in monitoring educational outcomes of learners. With the help of Fiqra Learning Management System, educational content can be created and distributed to reach a wider audience even to those in remote areas. Tanzania’s education ecosystem’s adoption of integrating ICT technology into teaching and learning practices has been slow and limited, especially in monitoring educational outcomes of learners. With this aforementioned challenge, the Fiqra learning management system will help learners to evaluate their understanding of the educational content through assessments and tests that track and gauge their performance which will be valuable in identifying and addressing their skill gaps.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your startup provides (at least 3).

Firstly, the Fiqra Learning Management System (LMS) empowers educators to expand their reach beyond traditional classrooms through its online course creation tools that enable them to create unlimited video courses, facilitate live classes, create text-based courses, project assessments and quizzes to test the learners’ understanding of the educational content. Secondly, Fiqra learning management system also has a comprehensive analytics dashboard that helps to provide data-driven insights into course performance, engagement metrics and learner behaviour. Moreover, with the help of quizzes and assessments created in the Fiqra Learning management system, they contribute towards monitoring the performance outcomes of learners and ensuring that their skill gaps are identified and addressed. Lastly, the Fiqra mobile app has a text-tospeech technology that enhances learners’ experience in engaging with the educational content that meets their learning needs.

01.04 Please describe who exactly your startup’s product/service is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

Our target group are youth aged 18-35 who are interested in gaining vocational skills that add value to their employability and enable them to earn a competitive edge in the digital economy job landscape. Our secondary target group includes credible trainers with industry expertise in a relevant field, who are interested in creating and distributing educational content effortlessly to increase the reach and engagement of their training sessions.

01.05 When was your company established?

2024-05-06

01.06 Are you already selling your product/service?

Yes

01.07 How many other owners are there within your startup?

4

01.08 Among the other owners, how many are female?

1

01.09 Please describe the profile of the other owners within your startup (skills, experience, etc.)

Gerald Revocatus – Chief Executive Officer of Fiqra Technologies. He is responsible for overseeing product development, and fostering partnerships that drive Fiqra's mission to revolutionize education through technology. His background includes roles at DOT Tanzania and The Queen's Commonwealth Trust, where he honed his skills in business development and innovation. Emmanuel Mtera – serves as the Chief Technology Officer. He is a seasoned full-stack developer with expertise in mobile app development, API, and backend engineering. He leads the technological innovations, system architecture, and R&D efforts to enhance the Fiqra Academy platform. Patricia Mhekwa serves as the Chief Strategy Officer. She plays a key role in strategic planning and leveraging her experience in research, project management and stakeholder engagement. Cornely Kilatu serves as the Chief Financial Officer. Highly experienced with a background in auditing, risk management and financial advisory.

01.10 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link(s) here:

http://fiqra.academy/

01.11 Which industry best describes your project?

h) IT (digital services, equipment and software)

02.01.01 My startup contributes to the No poverty goal

5

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification for my startup

Fiqra Academy aims to empower African youth to gain skills that increases their chances of employability in the job market. Hence, meeting the youth's skills development needs through Fiqra Academy will enable them to either employ themselves as freelancers or entrepreneurs or become employed by other businesses as full time employees therefore empowering them economically and this justifies Fiqra Academy's efforts towards contributing to SDG 1: No poverty.

02.02.01 My startup contributes to the Zero hunger goal

4

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification for my startup

02.03.01 My startup contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

4

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification for my startup

02.04.01 My startup contributes to the Quality education goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification for my startup

Fiqra aims to equip African youth with progressive and industry relevant in-demand skills through leveraging the knowledge base of industry trainers or instructors with relevant expertise who create online courses that improve the learning outcomes of youth in their skill development, therefore leveraging the power of innovative technology in improving educational outcomes of youth and their skill development needs. With Fiqra Academy, learners have access to high-quality content created by experts not limited by geographical reach. This includes interactive lessons, video lectures, and other multimedia resources that enhance understanding and retention, therefore improving their learning experiences and providing them with inclusive access to quality vocational education that meets their skill development needs. Therefore, this demonstrates Fiqra Academy's efforts towards contributing to SDG 4 (Quality Education).

02.05.01 My startup contributes to the Gender equality goal

6

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification for my startup

Fiqra Academy leverages its innovative technology and system infrastructure to provide inclusive and equal access to quality expert education.

02.06.01 My startup contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

4

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification for my startup

02.07.01 My startup contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

4

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification for my startup

02.08.01 My startup contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification for my startup

Fiqra Academy contributes to achieving SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic growth) by providing learners with access to online courses prepared by industry experts so as to gain relevant in-demand skills that align with industry needs in the labour market. Therefore, these in-demand skills gained by learners empower them to create job opportunities for themselves as freelancers or entrepreneurs or gain full-time employment thus empowering them economically. This demonstrates Fiqra Academy's efforts towards contributing to SDG 8 (Decent work and Economic growth).

02.09.01 My startup contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

7 - Strongly Agree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification for my startup

In Fiqra Academy online learning platform, there are course instructors that provide training on digital skills which equip learners with an entrepreneurial mindset.

02.10.01 My startup contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

5

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification for my startup

The Fiqra learning management system helps learners gain access to quality expert education given that instructors can create online courses so as to expand their geographical reach. In future, Fiqra aims to collaborate with development agencies in co-designing educational programs so as to reach to learners in underserved communities.

02.11.01 My startup contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

4

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification for my startup

02.12.01 My startup contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

4

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification for my startup

02.13.01 My startup contributes to the Climate action goal

4

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification for my startup

02.14.01 My startup contributes to the Life below water goal

4

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification for my startup

02.15.01 My startup contributes to the Life on land goal

4

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification for my startup

02.16.01 My startup contributes to the Peace Justice and Strong Institutions goal

4

02.16.02 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions- Justification for my startup

02.17.01 My startup contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

6

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification for my startup

As a Learning Management System, Fiqra Academy aims to work with academic institutions and development agencies so as to collaborate together through co-designing educational courses thus expanding the geographical reach and access to quality education for learners even those in remote areas through partnerships and knowledge exchange opportunities.

06.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

6

06.02 The product/service represents an entirely new type of product/service.

6

06.03 The product/service could be described as a new technology.

4

06.04 The product/service is an improvement on an existing product or service.

6

06.05 The product/service could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

5

06.06 The product/service responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

6

06.07 The product/service is a new version of an old product/service.

5

06.08 Justification for my startup

The Fiqra learning management system (LMS) enables instructors to create unlimited video courses, facilitate live classes, create text-based courses, project assessments and quizzes to test the learners’ understanding of the educational content and an online store of educational materials for learners to access as part of meeting their revision needs. The creation of online courses that are hosted in the learning management system provides learners’ with on-demand access to the educational content which improves their accessibility to quality education that develops their skills. With the help of quizzes and assessments created in Fiqra, they contribute towards monitoring the performance outcomes of learners and ensuring that their skill gaps are identified and addressed. Moreover, Fiqra Academy LMS has a comprehensive analytics dashboard that helps to provide data-driven insights into course performance, engagement metrics and learner behaviour.

06.09 Competitive Analysis

The main competitors are: 1. Udemy 2. YouTube What sets Fiqra Academy apart is that we are offering a learning management system that provides educational resources in multiple content types such as video and text based courses with follow up assessments such as quizzes and assignments to gauge the learners' understanding of the course content, live classes, student forums with the option of instructor booking and an online store for educational material to sell on the platform.

11.05 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?