The eLearning Africa conference is one of the most significant annual gatherings for educational technology practitioners across the African continent. The 12th edition — hosted by the Government of the Republic of Mauritius on 27–29 September 2017 — brought together practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and technology providers to examine the use and impact of technology in education and training, with particular attention to the African context.
Conference Themes
The 2017 programme was organised around themes that reflect the practical challenges facing those working at the intersection of technology and learning across the continent:
- The African context — understanding the specific cultural, infrastructural, and policy conditions that shape technology adoption in African education systems
- In search of education for all — addressing access, equity, and inclusion in digital learning provision
- New methods and tools for excellence in learning — examining emerging pedagogical approaches and the technologies supporting them
- Overcoming technical problems and ensuring equal access — practical responses to connectivity, device access, and infrastructure constraints
- The power of technology: future trends — what emerging technologies mean for African educational contexts specifically
- Focus on skills — the relationship between education, digital skills, and labour market demands
- New partnerships and initiatives for sustainable development — multi-sector collaboration models for technology-supported learning
Why This Conference Matters
eLearning Africa is distinctive because it centres the African context rather than treating global frameworks as universally applicable. The questions it asks — how to localise content, how to adapt technology to local infrastructure conditions, how to build sustainable learning systems rather than project-dependent ones — are the right questions for practitioners actually working in the field.
For anyone involved in digital learning design, policy, or implementation in Africa, this conference remains one of the most practically relevant opportunities for peer exchange and professional development on the continent.
Key takeaway: The most valuable conversations in African edTech are the ones that start from the continent’s own constraints and opportunities — not from assumptions imported from better-resourced contexts. eLearning Africa creates space for those conversations.