UCT online courses give start-ups a digital boost

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) newly launched Fintech in Emerging Markets specialisation aims to provide an African perspective on emerging technologies to fully realise their potential on the continent. The courses feature a range of guest lecturers from UCT, the financial services industry and start-ups who will share their experience not only with fintech, but with entrepreneurship in emerging markets in general.

The Fintech in Emerging Markets specialisation gives aspiring entrepreneurs the tools they need to understand the technological challenges and innovations that the financial services industry faces in an emerging-market context. Created with the support of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT), the fully online specialisation comprises four courses hosted on Coursera – an online learning platform that offers massive open online courses, specialisations and degrees. This brings to 23 the number of UCT MOOCs which CILT has helped to design.

The fintech courses introduce local case studies of start-ups, mainly in the fintech sector, but includes a broad range of topics from agriculture to media. The case studies include well-known established businesses, as well as several start-ups founded by UCT students.

The specialisation is led by Associate Professor Co-Pierre Georg, who holds the South African Reserve Bank Research Chair in Financial Stability Studies at UCT’s School of Economics.

“I’m excited that we created the first specialisation on Coursera from Africa and on such a timely topic no less. We need to provide an African perspective on emerging technologies such as blockchain and [artificial intelligence] to fully realise their potential on the continent,” he said.

Course outline

Each four-week online course is designed so that participants can spend about four or five hours per week working through the material. The courses comprise short video lectures, readings, interviews with entrepreneurs, quizzes to test learning, and written assignments.

Three courses – Fintech Regulation in Emerging Markets, How Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets can Master the Blockchain Technology and Building Fintech Start-ups in Emerging Markets – comprise the core topics, and the final project, Start Up Your Fintech Future, is part of course four.

In order to get recognition for the learning, the final project needs to be completed: an outline of a business model canvas and a pitch of a business idea.