Efiwe has been selected as one of 13 semi-finalists for the Africa Semi-Finals of the Global EdTech Startup Awards (GESAwards) 2026, taking place in Accra, Ghana on 20 November 2026.
We first made the GESAwards 2026 Africa Top 50, chosen from 194 submissions and 171 eligible entries across 31 countries. From that Top 50, the judges then shortlisted 13 startups from 7 countries to pitch at the semi-finals. Efiwe is one of three Nigerian startups on the final list.
About the GESAwards
The Global EdTech Startup Awards is one of the world’s largest EdTech startup competitions, run by Mindcet Labs with regional partners including the Africa EdTech Exchange and the Ghana Society for Education Technology. Startups compete regionally first, and regional winners advance to the Global Grand Finale.
The 2026 Africa round was highly competitive. From 194 submissions, 171 eligible entries across 31 countries were narrowed to an Africa Top 50 from 15 countries, and then to 13 semi-finalists from 7 countries.
All 13 semi-finalists already have a product in market. Together they cover virtual science labs, offline-first school systems, AI tutors and teaching assistants, inclusive and early-years learning, hands-on STEM, automated marking, accredited tech skills and university infrastructure.
What Efiwe brings to the stage
The GESAwards describe Efiwe as “a mobile-first, AI-powered coding school that takes a learner from their first line of code to a job application, entirely on a smartphone.” That is exactly what we set out to build.
Most coding platforms assume a laptop and a stable internet connection. Many of our learners have neither. Efiwe runs on low-end Android phones, works offline, and grades code on the device itself with our own Efiwe 1.5 model, switching to our cloud model, Efiwe 2.0, when a connection is available.
Since launching on 16 August 2025, Efiwe has grown to:
- 23,260 learners in 160 countries (as of 5 November 2026)
- 8 courses: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Tailwind, Python, SQL, PHP and Prompt Engineering
- 246 languages plus sign language
- A core platform that is 100% free
We have also built for learners who are often left out: Voice-to-Code, Sign-to-Code, Read Aloud and Battery Saver Mode, plus Efiwe Zero, which delivers lessons by SMS on MTN Nigeria shortcode 34461 for learners without a smartphone. In classrooms, we are working with Lagos State Education District IV across five senior secondary schools, after completing pilots with Teach For Nigeria and in Uttarakhand, India.
What’s next
On 20 November 2026, Efiwe will pitch to the judges at the Africa Semi-Finals in Accra, with our co-founder and CTO, Chidi Nwaogu, presenting. The winners from Accra go on to the Global Grand Finale at Bett UK in London in 2027, where they compete with regional winners from around the world.
For us, the pitch is a chance to show that world-class coding education does not need a laptop, a data plan or a fixed address. It only needs a phone.
Thank you
Thank you to Mindcet Labs, the Africa EdTech Exchange, the Ghana Society for Education Technology and every judge who reviewed this year’s entries. Congratulations to our fellow semi-finalists, and to every startup in the Top 50, and to all 194 teams who entered.
Most of all, thank you to the 23,260 learners who have written their first lines of code on Efiwe. This recognition belongs to you.
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