Africa’s population is forecast to double by 2050, making it the most populous continent. Improving primary school education, particularly in poor rural areas, is critically important for job creation, which will help reduce population growth, deforestation and wildlife destruction, all of which matter to us.

Digital education and enhanced pedagogy, combined with improved teaching standards and better data collection and analytics, are key to improving education outcomes. Delivery of appropriate, affordable content, teacher training and support, literacy, numeracy and data analytics, even in areas with limited or no connectivity and power, is essential.

Mwabu’s ambition is to become the ed-tech solution for rural Africa. Mwabu has digitised the entire Zambian primary-school curriculum so that it is animated and interactive with written and spoken word in English and 8 Zambian languages. Mwabu has also developed CAPS-aligned content for grades 4-7 Maths and Science in South Africa, and is now planning to provide its content into other territories where it can easily be adapted to match national curricula. Mwabu is aiming to become a complete ‘education as a service’ provider for rural Africa and is currently working with partners to develop a teacher training and support App, a literacy App and an assessment App as part of its offering.

Mwabu is partnering with N50 Project partners in Zambia to test new ways of reducing internet access costs whilst motivating teachers to migrate to digital solutions.

Snapplify is a digital rights management company that manages the distribution of major publishers' content across several African territories, focussing primarily on educational content to schools. 

Reflective Learning is an assessment and tuition App which identifies the maths concepts that a learner struggles with, and how far back the learner needs to go to catch up. It then provides individualised programmes, helping learners build on and strengthen their understanding of those concepts from exactly where they missed out.

Affordable Mobile Data and internet access are essential for education and business opportunities and are key to reducing rural poverty. We strive to drive down the cost of connectivity in rural areas. In Zambia, we’ve been at the forefront of creating rural hubs 'ZayoHubs' to enable communities to connect with outside service and information providers, giving them direct access to agricultural, health, financial advice and services and markets.

Africa Mobile Networks (AMN) is rolling out low-cost mobile phone sites in previously unconnected rural areas across much of Africa. AMN currently owns and operates about 4,000 sites under revenue-sharing contracts with MNOs, including 120 in Zambia. AMN has plans to expand to 8,000 sites by 2024.

Baybridge companies are partnering with N50 Project partners, including Intel and AMN, in Zambia to test new ways of reducing internet access costs.

Developments in solar panel and battery technologies are changing the paradigm for power in rural Africa. Baybridge is exploring how it can provide integrated off-grid renewable energy power solutions into rural communities where power is generated at a single source, such as a community hub, and then shared with schools, clinics, consumers and small businesses using battery distribution solutions.

Baybridge has invested into Mobile Power to roll-out their light-weight, portable, rechargeable Lithium batteries for use in rural areas. Consumers pay a deposit for the battery and thereafter only pay for the power they consume, swapping out depleted batteries for recharged ones (think of how you pay for BBQ gas bottle products). Microprocessors in the battery packs record essential usage data to allow optimization of the system design and pricing, and reduce mis-use and theft. The batteries have a built-in light and multiple USB charging ports so are suitable for home and micro-business use. 

MoPo operates successfully in several African territories. We are currently exploring if the concept can be scaled to schools and clinics, whereby donors only fund the power consumed (rather than funding installation Capex and (often poor quality) ongoing maintenance).

Western Power is developing a c. 180MW run-of-the-river hydro power project in Western Zambia in partnership with Infraco Africa. Most major milestones have been reached and financial close is expected during 2023. Baybridge was an early investor into the project, which will add valuable new clean energy into the Zambian national grid.

Baybridge is working with Conservation Capital and major conservation organisations to explore the possibility of them taking an equity stake in the project, with some of the expected 15% yield being re-invested into local conservation and community development efforts.

Baybridge Investments has stakes in a variety of service businesses, including Acteon - an international offshore oil services company that includes KKR as a co-investor; Sunbird Group - a company that provides serviced offices with an African style under the Kofisi brand; Positioneering - a global precise positioning business for use by offshore vessels and onshore agriculture.

Deforestation and poaching are encountered across much of sub-Saharan Africa. We aim to do our bit to reduce those by using our in-house digital skills to increase awareness of the issues. Baybridge (via Mwabu) is partnering with the iAfrica Foundation, a UK charity, to develop digital conservation and environmental awareness content - branded as iLearnabout - which once completed (it requires additional financial support) will be made freely available to schools and conservation clubs across Africa.

In Zambia, we are developing the Lotri Bay Conservation Area www.lotribay.com, on Lake Kariba. This is being done in cooperation with the local community and entails the restocking of wildlife, elimination of over-fishing and measures to attract tourists to the area, in order to create jobs for the community.