Education • Assessment • Market development
Helping education and assessment technology companies enter, grow and build lasting partnerships in Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa.
We connect your capabilities with local priorities — bringing market insight, established relationships and practical sales support to your next stage of growth.
ISkills Africa · International Skills UK Ltd
The right fit comes first
Successful market entry starts with understanding where your solution can make a meaningful difference.
Sub-Saharan Africa is a diverse region. Education priorities, institutional structures, procurement processes and delivery conditions vary between countries — and between organisations within them.
We help you identify the best fit between what you offer and what customers need. From early market assessment to active business development, our role is to turn regional ambition into a focused, practical plan.
Our expertise
Strategic advice and hands-on commercial support, shaped around your solution, resources and stage of growth.
01 / Strategy
Decide where to focus, who to engage and how to enter. We assess your proposition against local needs and help you build a realistic route to market.
02 / Sales
Build a qualified pipeline through targeted engagement and consistent follow-up. We help you understand opportunities and move the right conversations forward.
03 / Representation
Extend your commercial reach without immediately establishing your own regional team. We can represent your company or act as an agent within an agreed scope.
04 / Partnerships
Identify organisations that can strengthen your local reach or delivery. We help assess fit, facilitate discussions and develop a workable relationship.
05 / Positioning
Make your value clear to the people you need to reach. We help adapt your messaging and approach to the priorities of ministries, national bodies and universities.
06 / Development
Bring local context to a live opportunity. We help clarify stakeholder needs, coordinate partners and support a credible commercial response.
Where we focus
Our focus is Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa. We draw on existing contacts and an understanding of how different education and assessment markets work to help you select the right countries, institutions and partners.
We scope each engagement around the markets where we can add value, extending our work through suitable local partners where appropriate.
The customers you want to reach
Education, skills and workforce priorities; system-level programmes and institutional capacity.
Examinations bodies, qualifications authorities, professional councils and certification organisations.
Learning, assessment and institutional technology supporting students, educators and administrators.
Organisations that can provide customer access, implementation expertise and ongoing support.
Working together
Work with us directly, use us as an extension of your sales team, or ask us to help build your local partner network.
Focused input when you need it: a market review, an opportunity assessment, preparation for a visit or advice on your next step.
Best for: a specific question or decision.A clear brief, agreed deliverables and a defined timeframe — from a market-entry plan to a partner search or business development programme.
Best for: a bounded piece of work.Ongoing strategic and commercial support, with agreed priorities, regular reviews and the capacity to develop opportunities over time.
Best for: sustained market development.Representation in agreed markets or accounts, with responsibilities and commercial terms tailored to your products and sales approach.
Best for: extending your sales reach.We agree the scope, responsibilities, reporting and fees before work begins. Where appropriate, agency arrangements may include commission or a combination of fees and commission. Territory, exclusivity and authority to act are agreed explicitly.
A practical route forward
Explore your solution, target customers, existing activity, resources and commercial goals.
Assess market fit and agree priority countries, customer groups and routes to market.
Engage relevant stakeholders, explore partnerships and qualify potential opportunities.
Support follow-up, proposals and next steps, reviewing progress and adjusting the approach.
About ISkills Africa
ISkills Africa is the proposed Africa-facing brand of International Skills UK Ltd, an education technology consultancy focused on sales, market entry and partnership development in Anglophone sub-Saharan Africa.
Our work draws on Patrick Coates and Erica Hepburn’s experience of working across the region, established relationships and an understanding of the differences between local markets.
We take a strategic approach: understand the customer’s needs, assess where a supplier can add value, and develop a route to market that fits both. That can mean advising your team directly, acting as a representative or agent, or sourcing partners to support local sales and delivery.
We bring a practical perspective to both sides of the relationship — helping international providers understand local priorities and helping potential customers understand the value of a relevant solution.
Useful to know
No. We can help you assess countries, customer groups and routes to market before committing resources.
Yes. We can extend your team with local market insight, stakeholder access and practical follow-up.
Yes, subject to the markets and requirements of the engagement. We assess partner fit and can support early discussions.
No. We work with education and assessment technology, services and solution providers seeking a regional route to market.
No. Our role is to build relevant conversations and support opportunity development; procurement decisions remain with the customer.
We agree confidentiality, scope and conflict-management arrangements before work begins.
Let’s start with your ambition
Tell us what you offer, who you want to reach and where you are in your thinking. Whether you are exploring Africa for the first time or developing an existing opportunity, we can discuss where we may be able to help.