Mulugeta Fikre

Ethiopian social entrepreneur revolutionizing education access through technology

Mulugeta Fikre is a visionary social entrepreneur from Ethiopia who founded EduAfrica in 2020. This edtech platform has transformed educational access for over 500,000 rural students across East Africa through its innovative mobile learning solutions. Fikre's breakthrough came from developing low-bandwidth apps that work on basic feature phones - a critical innovation in regions where smartphone penetration remains below 30%.

His Forbes Africa profile highlights how the platform's solar-powered charging stations and offline content storage system have enabled continuous learning during Ethiopia's frequent power outages. The initiative has reduced school dropout rates by 40% in partner communities according to a 2023 UNESCO study. Fikre's work was recently recognized with the WhyAfrica Prize for Education Innovation.

In 2022, he launched TeachWithTech, a teacher training program that's certified over 1,500 educators in digital pedagogy. His TEDxMulatia talk "Bridging the Digital Divide with Analog Solutions" has garnered 2.3 million views. Fikre's current focus is expanding into Francophone Africa through partnerships with UNICEF and the African Union.