Established Castalia Africa in Kenya,part ners with Strathmore University as a loc al business partner to launch a full-scale education business for the African mark et.

Established Castalia Africa in Kenya, partners with Strathmore University as a local business partner to launch a full-scale education business for the African market. 

Coding Boot Camps for Children, plans to Launch Mobile Learning Business, Aims to Expand Business in East African Countries, Starting with Kenya 

Castalia Co., Ltd. (President: Satoshi Yamawaki, Head Office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; hereinafter "Castalia") has established a local subsidiary, Castalia Africa Co.. Ltd. in Nairobi, Kenya. At the same time, Castalia has concluded an MoU with @iLabAfrica- Strathmore University Research and Innovation Location: Nairobi, Representative: Dr. Joseph Sevilla, Director) . As the first project, a coding boot camp for children was held during the spring break of Kenyan schools. In the future, we will actively develop digital education services in Kenya utilizing Castalia's services and apps. 

center: Castalia CEO Yamawaki with Strathmore Universityʼs @iLabAfrica Director Dr. Joseph Sevilla. 

Castalia's Strategy for Africa 

Castalia is actively promoting two digital education services in Africa: mobile learning and programming education. This is due to the fact that there is an overwhelming lack of education and preparation for the rapid population growth in Africa. Population growth in developing countries means an increase in the number of children. It is certain that the current facilities for basic education, especially in elementary and junior high schools, will not be able to handle the number of students in the future. Even today, there are not enough school buildings, classrooms, textbooks, and teachers to meet the needs of the increasing number of students, and it will be difficult to educate these students using existing methods. In addition, many African countries have students who cannot attend school for various reasons, and many drop out of elementary school. Programming education is also being newly introduced in African countries. In Kenya and Egypt, programming is now compulsory from the 4th grade of elementary school. However, there is still a lack of sufficient computers, networks, and teaching methods at the public education level. Castalia aims to compensate for the lack of public education through private sector-based business. To this end, we are developing digital-based education in various regions. The key to this is the increase in mobile subscriptions and the penetration of smart phones. By partnering with universities in various countries and utilizing their facilities and resources, we will promote speedy and scalable development. At the same time, we are planning joint projects with industry and mobile career. Starting from Kenya, Castalia will expand into the five East African countries of Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania by 2025. The total population of these five countries is approximately 300 million, about the same as that of the United States (303.4 million), the world's fourth largest country by population, and Indonesia (228.1 million), the fifth largest.
Classes at a boot camp

About our business in Kenya 

We will start with a code education project for children. Strathmore University, which has a campus conveniently located in the city of Nairobi, is the highest level private university in Kenya. We have held a two-week paid programming boot camp from April 24, 2023. In addition to the boot camp, future plans include weekend classes and lectures on math and 3D design in addition to programming. Castalia has been selected for JICA's private partnership program and has been conducting research work in the country. In addition to this private sector project, Castalia will also introduce code education services to Kenya's elementary school curriculum through the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), which is under the Ministry of Education.

A commemorative photo of students and Castalia staff after the first boot camp

About @iLabAfrica- Strathmore University 

iLabAfrica is a Centre of Excellence in ICT Innovation and Development at Strathmore University. The Centre spearheads Research and Innovation in Information Communication Technology for the Development (ICT4D) of ecosystems toward the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to contribute toward Kenyaʼs Vision 2030. The research Centre is involved in interdisciplinary research, studentsʼ engagement and has partnered with over 800 institutions (Universities, NGOs, foundations, and government) worldwide and other funding agencies. The Centre focuses on

  • E-Health 
  • Data Science 
  • CyberSecurity 
  • Digital Learning 
  • IoT, AI and Machine learning 
  • IT Executive Education Courses 

URL: www.iLabAfrica.ac.ke.
@LabAfrica on Twitter and Facebook


About Castalia 

Castalia Inc. is a company that creates new learning with the motto "Education x IT to solve social issues. The company has developed the mobile learning platform "Goocus" and provides it to companies and educational institutions. Together with its original programming education materials, the company is expanding its business not only in Japan but also in the Middle East and Africa. 

URL : https://en.castalia.co.jp/ 

*Currently the company name is Goocus Africa due to registration rules in Kenya, but the company will change its name to Castalia Africa in June 2023.