NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 9 – A new AI-powered credit scoring system has been rolled out to help low-income and early childhood education (ECD) centers access financing.
Launched by Jackfruit Network, an ecosystem of social enterprises, the platform will determine educational institutions’ creditworthiness using a set of 350 data points.
The credit scoring system, the first of its kind in Kenya, gathers information such as financial statements, repayment history, cash flows, and enrollment numbers, and applies a method known as feature engineering to assign schools a credit score and assess loan eligibility.
“We are keen to support the growth of education throughout Kenya, and for us, this means unlocking access to affordable, transparent, and accessible financing for education at all levels and for all schools, including low-income schools. Our AI-powered credit scoring system helps us do this by digitizing schools that often have no proper financial records, to determine if they qualify for a loan and reduce the overall risk,” said Rob Alhadeff, founder and CEO of Jackfruit Network, a holistic education finance partner offering both financing and non-financing empowerment programs for schools within its network.
The AI system leverages Google Cloud’s machine learning platform and is trained on Jackfruit’s historical loan and education data, including both approved and rejected applications and how those loans performed over time. By analyzing this data, the model identifies borrower traits more likely to secure approval, such as stable cash flows, consistent repayment history, and steady enrollment numbers, while flagging riskier indicators.
“Our AI capabilities enable us to disburse secured loans in 48 hours or less; this would not be possible with a human-only team. We are also keen to ensure that we continue to educate our audience on how to improve their credit score by, in the near future, building a large language model into the feedback loop so that schools can receive tailored guidance through WhatsApp on how to strengthen their applications,” added Alhadeff.
“This would allow us to provide actionable feedback; for example, highlighting areas they could improve to increase their chances of loan approval and build a stronger credit score over time.”
The innovation comes at a time when Kenya’s educational institutions are struggling to access financing, with most financial institutions focusing their credit portfolios on the private sector and SMEs.
