Izesan Limited Challenges CcHUB on Equity in African EdTech Innovation

Nigerian education technology firm Izesan Limited has gone public with its frustration over what it calls a “systemic lack of openness” in the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship process, administered by Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB).

In an open letter addressed to CcHUB leadership, the startup accuses the organization of repeatedly sidelining its applications without offering feedback or engagement.

Izesan Limited

According to Izesan, the company has applied to the fellowship three years in a row, detailing its work in developing culturally grounded, multilingual learning platforms aimed at preserving African indigenous languages.

Despite its impact—including partnerships with schools, ministries, and international organizations—the company says its applications have been met with either silence or vague, non-substantive responses.

The letter expresses growing disillusionment with what Izesan perceives as a pattern of exclusion that disadvantages startups without global connections or external funding. The final straw, they note, was the complete lack of acknowledgment of their most recent application, even as a new fellowship cohort was publicly announced.

“We’re not outsiders to the ecosystem,” the letter reads. “We’re building tools for African classrooms, by Africans, with African languages. If that doesn’t qualify as innovation, what does?”

Izesan’s letter ends with a respectful but firm request for transparency, fairness, and a re-examination of how local innovators are supported—or overlooked—in programs claiming to empower African-led solutions.