Why ‘Tech for Kids’ Is the Next Big Niche to Watch
Dear African Tech Innovator, are you seeing this? 🧐
Hiya, Dear Innovator 😇
Give us a big smile 😁 for a big dayyyyyy
Why?
Cos every newsletter day IS a big day, and you know it! 😌😌
It’s another Saturday that’s all yours (yay! 🥳)
And whatever you choose to do with it—whether you're snuggling up as the ultimate couch potato or embracing your inner workaholic who seriously 👀 needs to take a break—we’re here for you. No judgments!
Now…
The Kids Are All Right... and Their Tech's Even Better 😉
Welcome to the 21st century, where kids aren’t just playing imaginary games with imaginary friends—they’re learning, coding too
And as a key player in the African tech space, there's no better time to pay attention to the 'Tech for Kids' niche than now🎮💻
Here’s why:
The stats don’t lie. Africa’s population is incredibly young, with 60% under the age of 251 and by 2050, it’s estimated that 40% of the world’s children will be in Africa2🧒🏿🧒🏾
According to UNICEF, only 1 in 10 children in sub-Saharan Africa have access to early childhood education3. This gap in itself represents a huge market opportunity for educational tech solutions.
The global toys market is projected to reach $530.04 billion by 2033, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% from 2024 to 20334 🎉
Oh, you’re still not convinced…? 🤔
How about this:
By 2030, about 80% of kids globally are expected to own their own smartphone, tablet, or wearable device, according to a recent study. The African edtech market is also set to grow from $224 billion in 2024 to $740 billion by 2030, at a 14% compound annual growth rate5, driven by increasing smartphone usage among younger populations.
Let’s not even get started on YouTube Kids, which has over 35 million active weekly users. The platform’s success highlights one thing—kids are driving tech trends hard.
Even Netflix is jumping in with interactive series like "Carmen Sandiego: To Steal or Not to Steal?", designed for children.
With all these ‘scrumptilitious’ numbers that only point out the opportunities in this niche, why are African tech innovators not leveraging it??? 🫠🫠
Tailing The Big Boys….
On the global scene, major players like LEGO Education, Tynker and others are making coding, tech literacy and physical tech products accessible to kids and their parents worldwide.
LEGO Education uses hands-on learning with its robotics kits 🤖, which allow children to program their own robots while learning coding skills in the process. They’re active in over 100 countries, and their platforms are gaining traction in Africa too.
Tynker is one of the world’s leading creative coding platforms, allowing kids to learn coding in a game-like format. In 2023, they expanded their content to include more culturally diverse avatars and stories, making it more appealing to global audiences, including African kids6
Osmo has combined physical play with digital learning, using an iPad. Their products are designed to help kids learn skills like coding, math, and creativity while playing. As of 2022, they reached over 30 million children worldwide, showcasing the enormous demand for interactive tech.
Then there’s also Ubenwa, a company that uses machine learning to develop hardware that detects distress in newborn babies based on their cries. This is high-tech hardware paired with AI, but at its core, it’s a physical product designed to save lives
Talk about innovation! 💯💯
How about ‘Tech for Kids’ in Africa…
Africa’s tech space for kids is still relatively new, but it's bubbling with potential.
According to a report by HolonIQ, the African edtech market is expected to grow from the $1.6 billion that it was valued at in 2021 to over $4 billion by 2027
Based in Ghana, DotLearn, the edtech company is doing incredible things in the field of online education for African students. They’ve created super-compressed video files (up to 100x smaller than typical videos) to enable low-data educational video streaming in countries with limited internet access. They’re also working on incorporating more kid-friendly content in the near future. 📱
Kytabu, a Kenyan startup, is revolutionising how African students learn. They’ve built a mobile app that provides digitised versions of textbooks for students, making education more accessible and affordable. With over 150,000 active users across East Africa, they’ve shown that the demand for child-focused edtech solutions is no joke.
Nigerian companies like uLesson and Tuteria are also paving the way in child-focused learning tools. uLesson raised $15 million in a Series B funding round to expand its edtech offerings to even more students across Africa, providing animated lessons, quizzes, and interactive learning experiences that make education fun.
Is there anything beyond Ed-tech…?
You bet! 😉
"Tech for Kids" isn’t just limited to the classroom and African tech companies have been benefitting from innovating in fields like gaming, robotics, and coding.
Take Afrilearn, for instance. Their content fuses African cultures with coding lessons, teaching kids to code while they learn about their heritage. Talk about making tech relatable!
With over 200,000 app downloads, they’re onto something here—combining tech education with African identity.
But there’s even more untapped potential in tech for kids in Africa. From STEM kits to coding boot camps designed specifically for children, African tech solution providers can leverage the growing interest in tech among the younger generation.
After all, a child who starts coding at 8 is more likely to build the next unicorn by 18, right? 😉
Moreover, the push for African kids to not just be consumers of technology but creators is growing. Programs like Scratch Africa, which recently launched a kid-friendly coding curriculum tailored for African cultures and languages, reflect this shift.
What Does The Future Hold…? 🔮🔮
Globally, the edtech market for kids is estimated to hit $404 billion by 2025, and with the rapid adoption of mobile technology in Africa, there’s a massive opportunity to tap into this growth.
According to Statista, Africa's digital population continues to grow. In 2023, it stood at a whopping 570 million internet users and this number is only set to increase.
The gaming market targeting kids is set to grow from $184 billion globally in 2021 to $256 billion by 2026. African startups in the space, such as Kukua, have already raised $6 million to develop a Super Sema animated series that inspires African kids to explore STEM concepts through storytelling.
With increasing investments from both local and foreign investors, the African “Tech for Kids” space is poised for explosive growth.
In the near future, we could see AI-driven education platforms tailored specifically for kids in Africa. Imagine a virtual tutor that can adapt to a child’s pace of learning, cultural background, and even language.
Another game-changer could be the adoption of blockchain technology in the space. Probably an edtech platform where students earn crypto rewards for completing lessons, or gaming platforms where kids trade NFTs from their favorite games, while being taught about the fundamentals of money.
The possibilities are endless, and African tech solution providers that can combine these emerging technologies with child-focused products definitely stand to capture a lucrative market.
Don’t you agree, Dear Innovator? 🤔🤔
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You’ll be back on Wednesday, yeah?
Alright then. Toodles!!
👋👋