Eleven Finnish companies and organisations returned from Tanzania to Finland with a wealth of new contacts, ideas and inspiration after attending eLearning Africa at the beginning of May.

During the week, the Finnish participants signed a record number of letters of intent and created valuable contacts with education and training leaders from different countries.

Education Finland and Finnpartnership provided Finnish education companies and organisations with highest ever visibility at eLearning Africa and the Doing Business With Finland seminar held in conjunction with the fair. eLearning Africa is Africa’s largest digital education fair and conference event, held in a different country every year.

All the right contacts in one place

At the event, Finnish participants had a joint stand, their own presentations and panel discussions at various side events, and one-to-one meetings with decision-makers from different countries and international organisations.

“With almost all of Africa represented at eLearning Africa, you can reach all the important contacts on the continent – both national and international decision-makers in the education sector. This year we were a gold partner of the event, which allowed Finnish participants to handpick the best bilateral meetings with representatives from different countries,” said Birgit Nevala, Programme Director of Finnpartnership.

From Finland, a wide range of organisations participated, including companies focused on developing basic education, teacher training, maths platforms for school children, simulation software for vocational education, a cloud-based student information system and higher education institutions offering English-language programmes.

As a result of the week, four Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have already been signed between Finnish and African actors, with more to come.

The record-breaking results are thanks to the work of great local partners, the Tanzania National Business Council and the Tanzania Investment Center.

“Our local partners in Tanzania brought just the right contacts for Finnish operators to the event, which allowed Finns to really reap the best benefits from participating,” said Suvi Pribilla, Business Partnership Officer for Finnpartnership’s B2BMatchmaking service.

The education sector needs innovative thinking and dialogue between experts in different fields

Educraftor, an education innovation developer, participated at the event for the first time. The company’s CEO Juhani Koivuviita praises both the meetings with different actors and the seminars and presentations during the event week.

“We now have a better understanding of the strategic priorities in the education sector in Africa, and can make informed plans and decisions in building future collaboration.  At the event, it was very easy to engage in conversations around education innovation and development work, from grassroots level innovators to the ministries that were there,” Koivuviita said.

Koivuviita stresses the importance of broad, cross-sectoral discussions in the development of the education sector.

“I believe that the education sector needs innovative thinking and dialogue between experts from different fields in order to foster innovative thinking and to learn from best practices. The week of events provided new opportunities for this,” says Koivuviita.

Jussi-Pekka Järvinen, who attended the week as a representative of Eduten, also stresses the importance of discussions in deepening understanding.

“Sitting down with different experts for a deep dive on the current learning development needs and on-going initiatives really helps give context for possible future collaborations. Understanding also some of the cultural intricacies of the classroom, challenges such as acute teacher shortages and inadequate infrastructure and the big steps already taken for example in digitalisation of the school system, are things that are not properly conveyed without face-to-face discussions on these topics.” said Järvinen.

Finnish companies should go boldly into the developing markets

Travelling gives companies an insight into local needs and enables them to compare the suitability of their product or service for the market. Juhani Koivuviita from Educraftor encourages companies to go boldly to international events in search of growth and new insights.

“This was our first time at the conference, and the experience was very positive. I would recommend the conference for an organisation that is entering the education sector in Africa and wants to connect with local entities. For this purpose, the conference offers great added value,” Koivuviita said.

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To learn more about Finnpartnership’s upcoming events and trips, click HERE.