(Ecofin Agency) - The investment is a pre-series A funding aimed at reinforcing Moringa’s training programs and supporting its expansion outside Kenya, its main market. 

Proparco recently announced a pre-series A investment of an undisclosed amount in Kenya's software engineering, data science, and soft skills training platform, Moringa. The funding will support the startup's expansion outside Kenya and facilitate the extension of its course offerings.

“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,” indicates Proparco’s CEO Françoise Lombard. 

In May 2020, Dutch impact investor DOB Equity made further investments in Moringa, in addition to the funds it committed in October 2019. The investment made during the coronavirus pandemic was aimed at accelerating the training institute’s transition to online teaching.  

Moringa, which is already present in English-speaking West Africa (in Ghana and soon in Nigeria), plans to expand to other African countries over the next 12 months. It will also offer new training programs and get ready for Series A financing in 2023. 

“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 […] and make our courses available in new markets in Africa,” indicated Snehar Shah, Moringa’s CEO.

According to the Africa Developer Ecosystem report published in 2021 by Google, covid-19 has led to an increase in global demand for remote tech talents, creating more job opportunities for African tech professionals. The report states that African startups that hire more than half of the local developers raised more than US$4 billion in 2021, 2.5 times more than in 2020.

Chamberline Moko