Rapelang Rabana drives access to foundational education in Africa through tech-enabled solutions at Imagine Worldwide.
Rapelang Rabana, a computer scientist and tech entrepreneur, currently serves as co-CEO of Imagine Worldwide, an education technology non-profit working to improve foundational literacy and numeracy for children in underserved regions of sub-Saharan Africa.
Rabana was born in Gaborone, Botswana, and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. She entered tech early in her career, co-founding Yeigo Communications, one of South Africa’s first mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. Following the acquisition of Yeigo, she joined Telfree (a communications company), where she led research and development.
In 2013, she launched Rekindle Learning, a company focused on digital learning tools designed to support individualised education in both workplace and academic settings. She also served as Chief Digital Officer at BCX, a major ICT company in South Africa.
Imagine Worldwide
As her career progressed, in 2023, Rapelang Rabana became co-CEO of Imagine Worldwide, a non-profit organisation developing tablet-based learning programmes to enhance early-grade literacy and numeracy. These tools are designed to function in low-resource environments without internet connectivity or grid power, making them accessible to children in remote and rural communities.
Imagine Worldwide operates in several African countries, including Burkina Faso, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Tanzania. The organisation collaborates with governments, NGOs, and researchers to implement its programs and assess their impact on learning outcomes.
Since Rabana joined the leadership team, the organisation has reached over 700,000 children as of early 2025. Plans are underway to expand the programme to a national scale in Malawi, with projections of reaching 3.5 million students annually. Similar expansion efforts are being explored in Sierra Leone and Tanzania.
Rabana’s role involves overseeing strategic planning and operational execution and working with local partners to adapt the technology to different linguistic and cultural contexts. In an interview, she emphasised on the importance of context-sensitive solutions in tackling persistent educational challenges across the continent.
“By meeting children where they are and giving them the tools they need, we can help them unlock their full potential and thrive, “ Rapelang Rabana said.
Recognition and influence
Beyond her work at Imagine Worldwide, the CEO has been recognised for her contributions to technology and entrepreneurship. She has graced the cover of Forbes Africa, been named a Fast Company Maverick, and been chosen as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. The World Entrepreneurship Forum has also acknowledged her as an Entrepreneur for the World.
Rapelang Rabana continues to advocate for scalable, tech-driven education solutions that address gaps in public education systems, particularly in areas with limited infrastructure.
