Why Zambia Must Build Its Own Tech Future

My name is Jeffrey Mdala, and I am an AI Engineer & Founder based in Lusaka, Zambia. I run the Zambian Online Education Company (ZOEC), where I built eskulu, an AI-powered learning platform designed around the ECZ curriculum for Grades 6 to 12. Over the years, I have also built Zedpastpapers, which now serves more than 200,000 users every month, and I continue to work on AI consulting and software development through my other venture, MAY and Company.

Even from a very unclear phrase, one idea stands out to me strongly: technology in Zambia must be built with Zambia in mind. That has shaped my entire journey. I did not get into tech because it was trendy. I got into it because I could see real problems around me, especially in education, and I believed software could become a practical tool for national development.

In Zambia, and across Africa, we often consume technology that was never designed for our classrooms, our languages, our infrastructure realities, or our economic conditions. That is one of the biggest reasons I believe local innovation matters. If we want meaningful digital transformation, we cannot only import systems. We must also build.

Why local technology matters in Zambia

When I started coding in Grade 12, I was not chasing headlines. I was curious, disciplined, and deeply interested in solving problems. That mindset eventually led me to create platforms that serve learners directly. As someone who graduated as the best Grade 12 student at Thornhill Boarding and Day School, education has always been personal to me. I understand what academic pressure feels like, and I understand how powerful access to the right learning material can be.

That is why I built products focused on real student needs:

• Zedpastpapers to improve access to exam materials at scale
• eskulu to provide notes, past papers, marking schemes, quizzes, and an AI tutor for Grades 6 to 12
• AI-powered systems that can eventually support smarter, more personalized learning in Zambia

Today, eskulu has reached 500,000+ students across Zambia. That impact means a lot to me because it proves that local solutions can scale when they address real needs. Students do not need abstract innovation. They need useful innovation. They need tools that understand the ECZ curriculum, their exam patterns, and the realities of learning in Zambia.

Building for African realities, not imported assumptions

One of the biggest mistakes in tech is assuming that what works elsewhere will automatically work here. Africa is not a testing ground for borrowed ideas. We have our own contexts, constraints, and opportunities.

In education, for example, many learners face limited access to textbooks, uneven internet connectivity, and financial pressure. A platform built for a completely different environment may ignore those realities. That is why I have always believed in designing from the ground up with local users in mind.

My work has been shaped not only by coding, but also by movement across Zambia and exposure to different sectors. While working with Paycode Africa on the FISP programme, I travelled to nearly all provinces of Zambia. That experience matters because it gave me a broader understanding of how people live, work, and access services beyond major urban centres. Technology looks different when you see the country up close.

That same grounded perspective influences how I think about the future of AI in Africa. AI should not only be discussed in boardrooms or online trends. It should be applied where it can create measurable value: education, agriculture, business operations, public services, and productivity.

My journey into AI and engineering

My academic path has been multidisciplinary, and that has helped me think beyond narrow technical silos. I studied Telecommunications and Electronics Engineering at the Copperbelt University, where I was exposed to subjects like calculus, circuit analysis, electronics, networks, signals and systems, microcontrollers, and C++. I later continued with Computing at Cavendish University Zambia, where I deepened my knowledge in artificial intelligence, natural language processing, optimization, cybersecurity, Java, marketing, and project management.

That combination of engineering and computing has shaped how I approach problem-solving. I do not just think about software as code. I think about systems, users, deployment, scale, and long-term sustainability.

I also worked as a Junior AI Engineer at Unicaf University Zambia while studying, which strengthened my practical experience in AI development. More recently, I have continued building my technical depth through certifications such as GPT-4 Foundations: Building AI-Powered Apps and AWS Lambda Foundations. For me, learning has never stopped. I have been self-teaching and coding continuously since 2016, and that consistency has been one of the most important parts of my growth.

Recognition is important, but impact matters more

I am grateful that my work has received recognition over time. I reached the Top 5 of the ZICTA Innovation Programme with eskulu, won Business With a Purpose at the X Pitchathon by Accessbank and MTN in 2023, and earned 3rd place at the Yango and Zindi Data Science Hackathon in 2024. I have also had opportunities to attend national-level events, meet the Minister of Technology multiple times, and be present at a ZDA Business Forum attended by the Presidents of Ghana and Zambia.

Those milestones are meaningful, but I see them as signals, not destinations. What matters most to me is whether the work is useful. Are students learning better? Are businesses becoming more efficient through AI? Are we building systems that can grow into lasting African institutions? That is the standard I try to hold myself to.

What Zambia and Africa need from this generation of builders

I believe this generation has a responsibility to move beyond passive consumption of technology. We need to become creators of infrastructure, platforms, and intelligence systems that reflect our realities. In Zambia, that means building products that solve educational access, business inefficiency, and information gaps. Across Africa, it means creating technology with long-term ownership, local relevance, and measurable social value.

For me, this is not only about startups. It is about mindset. We need more young Africans who are willing to learn deeply, build patiently, and solve practical problems. We need founders who understand both code and context. We need engineers who care about outcomes, not just hype.

That is also why I describe myself as a polymath. My interests span political science, Zambian law, mathematics, computer science, electronics, robotics, entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and social media algorithms. I believe innovation becomes stronger when we connect disciplines instead of isolating them. The future belongs to people who can think broadly and execute concretely.

The future I am building

At ZOEC, my long-term vision is clear: AI tutors in every Zambian classroom and, eventually, one of Africa's largest learning intelligence systems. That vision started during COVID-19 when I built eskulu to respond to a real educational gap. Since then, it has grown into something much bigger than a single platform. It represents a belief that African students deserve intelligent tools built for them, not afterthought versions of products designed elsewhere.

I also continue to support businesses through AI consulting, web development, and software engineering. Whether I am working on an EdTech platform, a machine learning solution, prompt engineering workflows, or cloud-based AI systems, the goal remains the same: build technology that is useful, scalable, and rooted in real needs.

Conclusion

Zambia does not need to wait for the future to arrive from somewhere else. We can build it here. We have the talent, the problems worth solving, and the opportunity to create technology that genuinely improves lives. My own journey, from a student who started coding in Grade 12 to building platforms used by hundreds of thousands of learners, has only strengthened that conviction.

I believe the next chapter of African technology will be written by builders who understand their communities and are willing to create with discipline, ambition, and purpose. That is the work I am committed to through ZOEC, eskulu, and my broader AI and software development efforts.

If you are interested in eskulu, want to explore AI consulting, or would like to collaborate on education or technology solutions in Zambia and across Africa, feel free to reach out to me at jeffmdala@gmail.com.