Low-income private schools and early childhood education centres, previously ignored by banks and other microfinance lending institutions, can now access financing and holistic growth programs from the recently rebranded Jackfruit Network through an AI-powered credit scoring system that determines their creditworthiness using a unique set of 350 data points.
The AI-powered credit scoring system made for educational institutions, which is the first of its kind in Kenya, collects information about each applicant, like their financial statements, repayment history, cash flows, and enrolment numbers, and uses a method called feature engineering to decide if they qualify for a loan by assigning them a credit score.
“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. The AI-powered credit scoring system helps us do this by digitising schools that often have no proper financial records to determine if they qualify for a loan and reduce the overall risk,” says Mr Rob Alhadeff, founder and CEO of Jackfruit Network, a holistic education finance partner that offers financing and non-financing empowerment programs for schools within its network.
The AI credit scoring system, which utilises Google Cloud’s machine learning platform, is trained on Jackfruit’s historical loan and education data, which includes both approved and rejected applications, along with how those loans performed over time. By analyzing this data, the model learns the characteristics that make a borrower more likely to be approved, such as stable cash flows, a positive repayment history, and steady enrollment numbers, as well as the factors that tend to signal higher risk.
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The organization, following an innovation-first approach in ensuring that underserved populations get better education outcomes by financing growth for infrastructure and operational capabilities, is keen to continue embedding technology, including artificial intelligence, into more of its processes.
“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. 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,” said Alhadeff.
Jackfruit Network, apart from providing financing to schools, also equips the school directors who borrow from them with knowledge on how to grow their schools; they also capacity-build teachers through an upskilling program, among other benefits that the schools receive when they borrow a loan.
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