When a university degree can increase someone’s income many times over, who should carry the risk of paying for it – the student, the state, or society as a whole? 

In this episode of Afri-CAN, we explore how Income Share Agreements (ISAs) are changing access to higher education in Africa. Instead of taking on traditional debt, students commit to paying back a small percentage of their income only once they have meaningful employment, with built-in caps and protections. The result is a revolving fund that can support generation after generation of learners. 

Our guests are Batya Blankers, CEO and Founder of Chancen International, and Nkazimulo Zitha, Managing Director of Pharo Schools. Together they unpack what it means to say “youth are investable”, share data on graduation, employment and repayment rates from Chancen’s ISA model in Rwanda and South Africa, and reflect on how Pharo Schools thinks about sustainable financing across its scholarship and school networks. It is a thoughtful, hopeful conversation that goes right to the heart of education, finance and development.