In October 2025 I returned to Sierra Leone for the first time since 1978, a deeply emotional journey back to the country of my early childhood, and the birthplace and resting place of my father. Travelling with my daughter made the experience even more meaningful. It was inspiring to reconnect with family, yet difficult to witness how much potential remains locked behind poverty and wider structural challenges.
I was there with Qinect and our partner Build Education, who are deploying AI-powered tools that deliver personalised learning and wellbeing support where it is needed most - in classrooms, communities, and crisis settings. At Qinect, we are proud to provide the technical platform behind this work.
We have been testing our “school in a box”: a tiny device that carries an entire K12 curriculum along with a local large language model fine-tuned on the educational content. It is a remarkable example of technology and AI used well, bringing teachers, mentors, tutors, and coaches to students who would otherwise have none.
This offering is not about replacing teachers. It is about expanding access to high-quality education and supporting teacher development in resource-constrained environments.
And we are going further. Together with Build Education, we will be launching our AI-driven Global Venture Accelerator - “From 0 to Billions” - on 1 January. It will give aspiring entrepreneurs worldwide access to world-class training, mentorship, and coaching.
Much more to come - watch this space.