Craydel founder and chief executive Manish Sardana and APA Life Assurance chief executive Catherine Karimi during the signing of a partnership deal/APA

NAIROBI, Kenya Apr 6- APA Life Assurance and education tech firm Craydel have partnered to help parents and learners plan better for funding higher education. 

APA Life Assurance will provide access to financial products such as investment plans, fixed savings, and education plans for parents who want to save for their children’s education through the co-branded online platform with Craydel.

“APA Life believes that by creating a new standard in financial planning, more students will have access to higher education in order for them to gain the necessary skills and education to obtain greater opportunities,” Catherine Karimi, chief executive of APA Life Assurance said.

Craydel is a web-based platform that allows working professionals and students to select courses from a large pool of local and international universities. 

It also gives users tools that they can use to compare the cost of studying their chosen course in various schools.

“APA’s deep financial expertise with financial products geared towards insuring happiness for the youth combined with Craydel’s expertise in understanding and fulfilling students’ needs is a massive step forward in democratizing access to higher education,” Craydel founder and Chief Executive Officer Manish Sardana said. 

The Ed-tech firm has partnered with more than 115 universities and vocational colleges in Africa and abroad and currently provides a listing of over 6,000 higher education programmes.

Karimi said that spending on education in Africa is expected to grow to $740 billion by 2030, at a 14 percent compound annual growth rate. 

“Previously many people funded higher education through indebtedness, but with tuition rising faster than inflation, it is not sustainable for many families to take out higher interest rate loans,” Apollo chief executive Ashok Shah said.