Ayodeji Agboola is the founder and Chief Executive Officer at Akowe, an edutech platform that helps educators issue certificates digitally. In this interaction with ITPulse, Ayodeji explained that the platform is currently able to issue 1,000 certificates in less than 30 minutes to recipients.
How does the Akowe app work and what is the essence of the platform?
Akowe currently offers two essential services. It is a platform for issuing certificates digitally. So, educators and training organizations can digitally issue certificates to their students. Certificates issued via Akowe are stored using Blockchain Technology, making these certificates verifiable and tamper-proof. Secondly, Akowe is a platform for verifying the authenticity of Academic records. We are building the largest database of verified and verifiable academic records in Africa. Akowe helps Educators in three simple steps. First, they upload their certificate design, then they upload a list of all the intended recipients, in the final step, they click Send. Akowe will create the certificates and email it to each recipient. We are currently able to issue 1,000 certificates in less than 30 minutes. As a platform for verifying academic records, we are currently aggregating verified data from Nigerian Universities and pretty soon, will open up our portal for employers, HR Firms and even a host of foreign organizations and any other private sector firms who need to verify the authenticity of academic records.
Will you rate Akowe in comparison with other platforms in the edutech ecosystem?
As you might have noticed from what we do above, we are uniquely positioned in the EduTech ecosystem. We are not into eLearning, but all eLearning platforms can be our customers as we can power their certificate issuance with our efficient systems and our blockchain technology. We are also uniquely positioned as a trusted platform for verification of academic records. In today’s world, where physical certificates are easily forged, our verification platform can help genuine job seekers and other professionals gain an edge in the labour market when they list their records on Akowe, as we go the extra mile to verify their listed academic records.
Akowe is uniquely positioned as a trusted platform for verification of academic records. In today’s world, where physical certificates are easily forged, the platform can help genuine job seekers and other professionals gain an edge in the labour market
The world has gone digital with most countries and individuals leveraging technology to learn. How do platforms like Akowe come into the eLearning space?
As mentioned earlier, we aren’t directly into eLearning, but the year 2020 and the COVID-19 Pandemic has shown the entire world that many areas of our natural lives can be more productive by adopting technology, learning included. Educational institutions, whether primary, secondary, or tertiary, must begin to include technology in all their processes or risk getting left behind. Akowe is solving this by digitising the entire process of educational institutions issuing certificates to their students. Physical certificates are prone to loss or damage by fire, water, mould, or even kids. They can also be easily forged. Digital Certificates on a blockchain, on the other hand, are tamper-proof, verifiable, easily retrievable and are generally more trusted. Akowe is here to catalyse the industry and move it forward in the right direction.
We have situation where students in higher institution use CBT for exams, what is your perception of Nigeria’s readiness in adopting eLearning?
Nigeria is more than ready. We have seen tremendous growth in Nigeria’s FinTech sector, catalysing that entire industry and leading to many new businesses. A similar growth is going to cascade to other industries in the near future and the gatekeepers of these industries would do well to embrace technology as an enabler. We all know that change is the only constant thing, so eLearning is going to become mainstream sooner or later.
What is government exam bodies like JAMB and WAEC perception of platform like Akowe?
Akowe is an enabler for these exam bodies. A trusted third-party via which academic records can be verified independently. Certificate holders are able to sign-up on Akowe, list their credentials on our platform and we verify the authenticity. In the near future, as we continue to grow in the marketplace, we are also confident that we can also become a source of additional revenue to these exam bodies as our customers continue to verify records provided by them.
Educational institutions, whether primary, secondary, or tertiary, must begin to include technology in all their processes or risk getting left behind. Akowe is solving this by digitising the entire process of educational institutions issuing certificates to their students
What do players like you that are altering the system expect from the government?
As you might have noticed from our name, we are proudly Nigerian. Akowe is Yoruba for a literate person. We strongly believe that Akowe is going to put Nigeria on the map when it comes to trusted platforms for verifying academic records. The problem we are solving is not only experienced in Nigeria, but mostly in Sub Saharan Africa. Not only is it fitting for this solution to emerge from the most populous black nation on earth, Nigeria, but also solving real problems for Nigerians and the world. What we expect from the government is what any little child expects from its parent, nurturing and care, so that it may grow big and strong and make the parents proud someday.