Leading Investor, Proparco (AFD Group), Completes Pre-Series-A Investment in Moringa Fueling its Expansion across Africa.
Building on the Seed Investment by DOB Equity and USD 9.5m funding by Mastercard Foundation, Moringa is excited to have recently received an investment from Proparco to support its expansion outside Kenya. This has seen the tech-based learning institution start to train Software Engineers in Ghana and soon Nigeria with a plan to scale to other African countries in the next 12 months. Moringa, a career accelerator for Tech professionals in Africa, has been training High School/University Graduates to be Software Engineers and Data Scientists for
the past 7 years in Kenya and achieved market leadership training for over 4,000 students with employment rate of over 85%. The investment comes at an exciting time with Moringa just agreeing to a curriculum licensing deal with the world’s leading coding Bootcamp, Flatiron School, and achieving ISO 9001:2015 certification. The stage is set for Moringa to play a significant role in developing African tech talent and connecting it to purposeful and significant earning opportunities whether full-time jobs, the gig economy or becoming entrepreneurs.
Google published the Africa Developer Ecosystem report in 2021 which indicates that there has been an increased global demand for remote tech talent which was accelerated by the pandemic, creating more employment opportunities for African technology professionals. The report indicates that African startups which are responsible for hiring more than half of the local developers raised over $4 Billion in 2021 -2.5X more than they raised in 2020. With 22% of Sub-Saharan small and medium-sized businesses starting or increasing their use of the internet, the need for web development skills is increasing rapidly. Higher demand for remote development work also led to increased opportunities; 38% of African developers work for at least one company based outside the continent.
Moringa provides access for all to the training and network needed to participate in this tech revolution if they can demonstrate they have the aptitude and mindset required to succeed. This is part of the company’s mission to build talent and opportunities through tech-based learning experiences. Following our recent launches with Impact Hub Accra and Social Enterprise Ghana, Moringa and Plenty Tech Jobs Nigeria have entered into a market entry partnership that will see Moringa become a key provider of tech talent for the Nigerian workforce. Plenty Tech Jobs is a leading platform for finding the best technology job and remote gigs in Nigeria.
The investment from Proparco will aid Moringa to prepare for Series A funding in 2023. Apart from International expansion outside Kenya, the funding from Proparco will also facilitate the broadening of the range of courses offered by Moringa. Currently, the institution offers Software Engineering, Data Science and Soft Skills courses with plans to offer courses in UI/UX design in the near future.
Statement from Moringa
According to Sneha Shah, Moringa’s CEO “The investment comes at an exciting time for Moringa as the institution expands to Ghana and Nigeria. We are keen to leverage this partnership to train many more students using the leading US Bootcamp curriculum from Flatiron School. In line with our vision of a world in which anyone can create their future, we welcome the support of Proparco to make our courses available in new markets in Africa.”
Statement from Proparco
According to Françoise Lombard, PropArco’s CEO “Supporting the African tech ecosystem is one of Prop Arco’s key priorities. Through our investment in Moringa, Proparco is proud to support an ambitious Edtech in its expansion in Africa and thus contribute to bridging the skills gap that has been affecting the growth of startups on the African continent”.
About Moringa
Moringa is a multi-disciplinary learning accelerator committed to closing the skills gap in Africa’s job market by providing transformative tech-based learning. Founded in April 2014, Moringa School plays a pivotal role in developing and nurturing high-potential individuals who are passionate about technology and want to take a lead role in Software Engineering and other tech-based programs.
Moringa prides itself on training 4,000+ students and placing more than 85% of its graduates into leading companies throughout Africa and the world. Some of the notable companies that our graduates have been placed in include Safaricom, Mandela, Sanlam, Microsoft, Cyberdeck and Dalberg Data Insights. In 2020, Moringa was listed among the top 50 Edtech companies in Africa by HolonIQ. The World Bank cited Moringa School as a leader in the space following its research into technology boot camps. Most recently, Moringa School was selected as one of the World Economic Forum’s “Technology Pioneers in 2021.”
Through a distinctive learning model and a curriculum partnership with Flatiron School, the no.1 US Bootcamp, Moringa is creating world-class developers in Africa.
About Proparco
Proparco is the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group). It has been promoting sustainable economic, social and environmental development for over 40 years. Proparco provides funding and support to both businesses and financial institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Its action focuses on the key development sectors: infrastructure, mainly for renewable energies, agribusiness, financial institutions, health and education.
Its operations aim to strengthen the contribution of private players to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the international community in 2015. To this end, Proparco finances companies whose activity contributes to creating jobs and decent incomes, providing essential goods and services and combating climate change. For a World in Common.
For further information: www.proparco.fr and @Proparco
