Eduloan expands into Zimbabwe

The South African based organisation which has for the past 18 years availed more than R3, 7 billion in study loans to over 720,000 students, aims to grant R15 million to Zimbabwean students by the end of 2014.

Rose Sibanda, Eduloan Zimbabwe’s sales director said her organisation’s business has mostly been with civil servants while 62% of Zimbabweans granted loans are women.

“Contracts are in place with four tertiary institutions, namely Solusi, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Lupane University and Business Environment Services (BES) resulting in a 10% discount for students,” said Sibanda.

Sibanda said in 2013, Eduloan ran a successful pilot project in Zimbabwe in collaboration with BES.

“The organisation targets the country’s middle class, like teachers and nurses who may not be considered eligible for loans offered by banks,” said Sibanda.

“We help this group because we make use of direct salary deductions via the employers of the borrowers while study loans are transferred directly to the academic institutions, and not the students, mitigating risk to the company.”

Sibanda said partnering BES on this project is because the organisation has an understanding of the educational environment in Zimbabwe and is equally passionate about making a difference in the country

“With Eduloan expanding its business in Zimbabwe, parents and prospective students who lost all or most of their money during the hyper inflationary period, can now ensure an education and bright future for their children or themselves,” said Sibanda.

Following the decade long economic crisis in Zimbabwe, the government of Zimbabwe switched to using the US dollar in order to curb further inflation.

This economic crisis had adverse implications on the future educational finance planning for parents.

“Eduloan’s offering has allowed some parents who previously could afford to send their children to private schools, to do so again,” says Sibanda.

Eduloan is a leading education finance specialist operating in Southern Africa committed to making education affordable and accessible to all individuals looking to further their education.

Since its inception in 1996, the organisation has awarded over 750 000 study loans valued more than R4 billion and continues to help thousands across Africa unlock their true potential.

This has enabled a lot of students with the financial assistance to improve their lives, the lives of their loved ones in South Africa and beyond.

The institution’s vision is to improve people's lives through financial access to education through the provision of study loans that cover not only course fees, but additional expenses such as textbooks, registration fees and technology which includes laptops, tablets and other study equipment that may be associated with students’ studies.

Eduloan also offers fund and bursary administration solutions to assist students and bursars alike in effectively managing bursary funds, training funds, cashless payments and class attendance of students and learnership beneficiaries.