Eskinder Mamo, co-founder of Fidel

During the Seedstars World 2016 event, AfrikaTech interviewed Eskinder Mamo, co-founder of Fidel.

Even offline, so that they prepare well for their exams, have good results, and ultimately, they become more qualified people with better future prospects.

When you talk about exam preparation, do you think of quizzes, tests, videos?

On the web and mobile, you have quizzes, lessons and tips, which makes it fun. Fidel allows users to compare their points, and it is also possible to interact with other users via messaging functions. For tablets, we have also incorporated videos because the storage and screen size are larger.

How is the education market in Ethiopia? Who are your competitors?

The market is very large: we have more than twenty-five million students from kindergarten to secondary, more than thirty-five thousand schools across the country, whereas barely twenty years ago, we had that 2.5 million students. So you can imagine the huge growth. The market is huge, with a lot of challenges, and with a lot of opportunities at the same time.
As for competition, there are other solutions, but they are only focused on the web, and focus on exam questions. Of course, other more advanced African countries like Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa offer alternatives.

Do you plan to reach these markets or are you focused on Ethiopia?

At the moment we are focused on Ethiopia, but we also plan to settle in other countries. We propose to offer a technical platform on which the countries in question can deposit local content. Nor is it limited to schools. Fidel can also be used for government training centers.

What are the next big steps for your startup?

One of the biggest is to upgrade to version 2.0 which has more “adaptive learning”.

What do you mean by “adaptive learning”?

A system that understands your level and offers questions that correspond to it, in addition to being more interactive, because it will create interaction between the most successful learners and teachers, the latter being able to act as tutors.

Even offline, so that they prepare well for their exams, have good results, and ultimately, they become more qualified people with better future prospects.

When you talk about exam preparation, do you think of quizzes, tests, videos?

On the web and mobile, you have quizzes, lessons and tips, which makes it fun. Fidel allows users to compare their points, and it is also possible to interact with other users via messaging functions. For tablets, we have also incorporated videos because the storage and screen size are larger.

How is the education market in Ethiopia? Who are your competitors?

The market is very large: we have more than twenty-five million students from kindergarten to secondary, more than thirty-five thousand schools across the country, whereas barely twenty years ago, we had that 2.5 million students. So you can imagine the huge growth. The market is huge, with a lot of challenges, and with a lot of opportunities at the same time.
As for competition, there are other solutions, but they are only focused on the web, and focus on exam questions. Of course, other more advanced African countries like Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa offer alternatives.

Do you plan to reach these markets or are you focused on Ethiopia?

At the moment we are focused on Ethiopia, but we also plan to settle in other countries. We propose to offer a technical platform on which the countries in question can deposit local content. Nor is it limited to schools. Fidel can also be used for government training centers.

What are the next big steps for your startup?

One of the biggest is to upgrade to version 2.0 which has more “adaptive learning”.

What do you mean by “adaptive learning”?

A system that understands your level and offers questions that correspond to it, in addition to being more interactive, because it will create interaction between the most successful learners and teachers, the latter being able to act as tutors.

How do they interact? By audio, by video, by chat?

It will be per chat, as the cost of data recommends avoiding audio and video.

What do you need, and how can “Seedstars World” help you?

Right now, we’re looking for content providers who can work with us. We are also trying to launch a tablet driver, and we have found a tablet assembler. An investment of this style could offer us good opportunities. To date, we have had the opportunity to meet great mentors, investors and entrepreneurs from around the world, which has helped us immensely in developing a network, knowledge and hopefully investments in to come up.

What are the biggest challenges you face now with your startup?

Infrastructure in our country. Internet is unreliable (due to power outages).

I’ve heard that there’s only one telecom operator in Ethiopia…
Yes there is only one, but it is trying to improve things: recently it has reduced the cost of mobile data, but there is still a long way to go. Of course, we also have to find talented developers: we have them, but we need more staff.

What do you think of developers from neighboring countries like Kenya, who I think have good developers?

It’s a very good idea that we haven’t tried yet, but incorporation at a regional, even continental, level are things that must definitely happen. Although we haven’t explored it yet, it would still be a great idea.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

You mentioned at the outset that one of the targets would be the diaspora, and we co-founders have lived in Europe for several years.

In Germany ?

Yes, and it’s really great! We advise everyone to return to their country of origin, to see things with an open mind and not only to see the difficulties and challenges but also the opportunities. In my view, some of the biggest opportunities are in African countries rather than Europe or the United States. It’s just a matter of open-mindedness: of course there are more challenges, but the more challenges there are, the more possibilities there are. It would be my advice to them: not only to see, in returning to the fold, vacations, but also opportunities.

So the greater the challenge, the greater the opportunity?

Absolutely.

 

 

About The Author

CEO AfrikaTech

Comme beaucoup de personnes j’ai connu l’Afrique à travers des stéréotypes : l’Afrique est pauvre, il y a la guerre, famine… Je suis devenu entrepreneur pour briser ces clichés et participer à la construction du continent. J’ai lancé plusieurs entreprises dont Kareea (Formation et développement web), Tutorys (Plate-forme de e-learning), AfrikanFunding (Plate-forme de crowdfunding). Après un échec sur ma startup Tutorys, à cause d’une mauvaise exécution Business, un manque de réseau, pas de mentor, je suis parti 6 mois en immersion dans l’écosystème Tech au Sénégal. J’ai rencontré de nombreux entrepreneurs passionnés, talentueux et déterminés. A mon retour sur Paris je décide de raconter leur histoire en créant le média AfrikaTech. L'objectif est de soutenir les entrepreneurs qui se battent quotidiennement en Afrique en leur offrant la visibilité, les connaissances, le réseautage et les capitaux nécessaires pour réussir. L'Afrique de demain se construit aujourd'hui ensemble. Rejoignez-nous ! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boubacardiallo

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