Edike Africa helps parents access funds for children’s education in hard times

Edike Africa, an education financing and technology solution, has unveiled a viable way to alleviate the educational financial burden on parents by helping them access funds for their children’s education.

With this solution, parents and guardians can salvage their children’s education’s dreams by exploring the funding opportunities provided by education financial institutions.

The solution  is designed to provide school fee financing services to parents and guardians with children and wards in primary and secondary schools in Africa. It aims to assist with children’s educational expenses.

According to Babajide Olusesi, the concept behind Edike Africa is to help parents manage the cost of financing their child’s education, after which they agree to a flexible monthly instalment repayment plan.

“Because of the rising food and fuel prices, many parents struggle to pay their children’s school fees, which leads to children dropping out. So at Edike Africa, we’re telling parents that the education dreams of their children don’t have to die because of lack of finance. We know that education is the passport to a better future, that is why we want to help parents facing financing problems and provide easy repayment plans for them.

“To qualify for the school fees finance, parents would register with us. They simply download the Edike App on the iOS or Android Stores. Once you download the app, you provide us with some KYC (Know Your Customer) information and once they’re verified, we’ll provide the financing. We respond to applicants within 24 hours, you get the form, fill it, funds are then paid directly to the school, and then you pay us back over an agreed period,” he said.

Edike has been operating for over a year, and over 1000 subscribers have benefited and are still benefiting from the service.

“We are not a charity organisation. We are a for-profit business, with a social leaning. So government and private institutions can key into this. They can reach out to us via our websites.

“We’re open to conversations around providing education financing so potential partners can explore opportunities and tap in and leverage on the system that we built,” Olusesi said.

Aside from their education financing opportunity, Edike Africa recently empowered children in their maiden video competition tagged ‘My Dreams Are Valid’. This competition is organised to inspire creativity, innovation, and aspirations among children across Nigeria.

According to Olusesi, the competition garnered hundreds of entries from talented young participants, with the top 5 winners selected to be honoured at the event with cash prizes.

He said, “Our goal is to expand and give access to quality education and we intend to do a lot more things in Nigeria and Africa, so as we go along, Nigerians will see and hear a lot more about us.”

Speaking on the future aspirations of Edike Africa, they foresee their company supporting millions of children, thereby reducing the population of out-of-school children in Nigeria.

“We aspire to provide uninterrupted education for children at every level, and within different economic classes in Nigeria. Our main goal is to ensure and guarantee quality education for children, so in five to 10 years we hope that we will have been able to surmount the challenges of education by providing financial solutions,” he said.