Editor’s Pick: BAG Innovation
As part of EdTechX Africa, we travelled to Rwanda in February this year. It was here that we discovered BAG Innovation, an EdTech startup that focuses on preparing students for the future of work. This week, we spoke with Yussouf Ntwali, Co-Founder and COO, to discuss how it all began and vision for the company.
What inspired you to launch BAG Innovation?
We were inspired to launch BAG Innovation due to the lack of effective internships that could prepare students for the future workplace in Africa. Currently, graduates cannot readily find employment and are looking for opportunities to gain soft skills and work preparedness away from the skills gained at university. Students currently are unable to find the right opportunity for work during their time at university, which we where we thought BAG Innovation can help.
What does BAG stand for?
Our president, Mr Paul Kagame, once said that “we need to create a new generation of problem solvers”, so we thought “Building A Generation” is suiting to our country’s cause and vision.
Who is BAG Innovation designed for?
Currently, BAG is working with Universities across Africa to help university students and recent graduates. We can see this model also helping students from secondary and TVET (Technical and Vocational Educational Training) schools.
What is your vision for BAG Innovation in the next few years?
Our goals at BAG Innovation is to significantly increase its impact in Rwanda and East Africa. We believe we can achieve this by extending the experience-based learning model to all University students in Rwanda and East Africa — more than 4,000,000 students and recent University graduates. The team at BAG and our extensive knowledge and understanding of student development at universities put us in a unique position to off help to graduates match their skills to roles and companies.
What has been the biggest obstacle in creating BAG Innovation?
The biggest obstacle has been the mentality of young people in Rwanda “not having what it takes” to go into work straight after university. The university system is developing at a slower pace, and so we have worked to create strong relationships with universities to host BAG ambassadors in campuses, creating networks and opportunities for students to develop their skills.
If I could go back to the day we founded BAG Innovation and give myself one piece of advice it would be to gather every single piece of data possible! We had our first breakthrough after realising the value of accurate client/consumer feedback.
What has the response been like since winning EdTechX Africa Ecosystem Event in Rwanda?
We have grown a lot since in both traction and numbers, with an overwhelmingly positive response to our solution. EdTechX has been a valuable quality stamp for BAG to create trust and conviction with our partners. We learnt a great deal from meeting the other international EdTech start-ups, and we got tangible advice on how to clarify our value proposition and revenue model.
What other regional markets/ecosystems do you want to grow into and why?
We would like to extend across the whole of Africa, starting with Rwanda’s neighbouring countries Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. As the population in Africa continues to grow, there will be new challenges for the younger generation to adapt their studies with experience. Because the BAG model can help solve this we can help with socio-economic development in each country we expand to.
How has technology helped advance your product to reach your audience?
Technology has helped us reach students outside of urban areas and include all different study sector on our platform. We are currently in the phase of integrating machine learning in our grading system to make sure we can give accurate and actionable feedback to all the users on the platform simultaneously.
What is the most interesting trend you are seeing in EdTech right now?
The integration of augmented reality & machine learning in specialized areas of the education sector.
EdTechXAfrica will be going on a second tour in February 2020. We will be exploring different cities, looking to visit Ghana, Ivory Coast, Sierre Leone, Senegal and Nigeria. You can find out more here.
