SchoolPay’s transformational journey through the timbuktoo Fintech Accelerator

May 2, 2025

Man sitting outside, arms crossed, wearing a blue traditional outfit, with greenery in the background. — . Nfor Calrton grew up in Cameroon in an underserved community despite paying school fees like others they lacked access to quality education due to uneven resource distribution.

Rejoice Emmanuel/UNDP Nigeria

The Beginning – Inspiration & Vision

SchoolPay was founded to tackle financial barriers in education across Africa. Nfor Calrton grew up in Cameroon in an underserved community despite paying school fees like others they lacked access to quality education due to uneven resource distribution. Witnessing inefficiencies in fee payment systems leading to dropouts and financial instability in schools inspired him to create a solution.

A defining moment came when one of Nfor’s close friend, Amadou, had to leave school because her parents could not pay fees on time. This reinforced the belief that fintech could bridge the gap and ensure financial accessibility in education.

Cameroon’s fintech ecosystem is growing, but most solutions focus on generic mobile payments. Before joining timbuktoo, SchoolPay’s biggest challenges were scaling their platform, securing strategic partnerships, and refining their revenue model.

The Transformation – Journey Through the Accelerator

Since joining the timbuktoo Fintech Accelerator, SchoolPay has experienced remarkable growth. Before the accelerator programme, SchoolPay were operating primarily in Cameroon, serving 2,000 schools. Now, they have expanded to 4,000+ schools, reaching over 2 million users.

Since joining the timbuktoo Fintech Accelerator, SchoolPay has experienced remarkable growth. Before the accelerator programme, SchoolPay were operating primarily in Cameroon, serving 2,000 schools. Now, they have expanded to 4,000+ schools, reaching over 2 million users. A pivotal moment was refining their business model based on expert mentorship, allowing them to integrate micro-loans and expand partnerships with MTN, unlocking infrastructure in 21 countries.

One of the most valuable lessons was the importance of data-driven decision-making. They restructured their analytics to provide real-time financial insights for schools and governments.

Their breakthrough came when they secured a partnership with the Ministry of Education for the National Matricula Initiative, ensuring every student has a unique identifier linked to their financial and academic records.

An unexpected but invaluable insight from the accelerator was learning how to leverage fintech regulations to scale across multiple African markets while maintaining compliance.

The Impact – Making a Difference

SchoolPay is transforming education financing in Africa. By streamlining fee payments, enabling micro-loans, and providing financial visibility to schools. So far, they have ensured that 30,000 underprivileged children receive free education.

One powerful success story is that of a rural school in Cameroon that struggled with 40% revenue loss due to manual fee collection. After adopting SchoolPay, the school increased their revenue by 50%, enabling better teacher salaries and improved learning resources.

Additionally, through the timbuktoo network, SchoolPay has established key partnerships with government agencies and financial institutions, accelerating their reach and impact.

The Future – Scaling Beyond the Accelerator

After the Accelerator Programme, SchoolPay is expanding into two additional countries within the next 24 months. The $20,000 equity-free funding will be used to enhance their micro-loan feature, expand their USSD capabilities, and strengthen their compliance framework for multi-country operations.

In five years, success for SchoolPay means:

Serving 10 million students across Africa.
Establishing SchoolPay as the leading fintech solution for education financing.
Enabling 200,000 African children who have dropped out of school or those without access to education have access to education through their system.

SchoolPay’s vision for the African fintech ecosystem is one where financial inclusion empowers education, enabling every child—regardless of background—to access quality learning opportunities.