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2020-09-30-accounts

Charity Registration No. 1166958

Company Registration No. 10101086 (England and Wales)

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Trustees D Banda Appointed June 2020
P Dunne
C Foy
J Kibazo
N Matimu Appointed June 2020
K Ntwinga Appointed June 2020
J Rogall
Management L Heady (CEO) Appointed June 2020
Charity number 1166958
Company number 10101086
Registered office 3rd Floor
Chancery House
St Nicholas Way
Sutton
Surrey
SM1 1JB
Auditor Crowe U.K. LLP
55 Ludgate Hill
London
EC4M 7JW
Bankers C. Hoare & Co
37 Fleet Street
London
EC4P 4DQ
Lawyers Bates Wells Braithwaite
10 Queen Street Place
London
EC4R 1BE

Cover photograph: Students at a university in Nairobi, Kenya. Student Access.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

CONTENTS

Page
Letter from the Chair 4
Trustees’ report 5
Financial report 11
Structure, governance and management 13
Statement of Trustees’ responsibilities 16
Independent auditor's opinion 17
Statement of financial activities 20
Balance sheet 21
Statement of cash flows 22
Notes to the financial statements 23

At a university in Accra, Ghana. Supporting the knowledge system for education.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Letter from the Chair

This annual report covers an extraordinary year, dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in March 2019 when the global pandemic hit, the ESSA team were well-placed to respond; already working remotely and we had systems in place to keep working through lockdown. We adapted quickly, putting in place measures that ensured the safety of our employees and stakeholders. This enabled us to maintain our support to those at the forefront of education in sub-Saharan Africa.

No one will remember 2020 fondly but looking back on the year there are many achievements we can be proud of and our contributions to transforming education together give me hope for a brighter 2021. Here are some of the highlights:

In 2021 we will be turning five years old and look forward to building on these successes to improve the lives of young people in sub-Saharan Africa. We will be launching an ambitious five-year strategy; designed to support a data and evidence-led transformation of tertiary education in sub-Saharan Africa.

Patrick Dunne, Chair

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Trustees’ report

The Trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2020.

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the accounts and comply with the charity's Articles of Incorporation, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016).

Objectives and activities

The charity’s objective is for the public benefit to advance education in sub-Saharan Africa. Trustees have given due consideration to the Charity Commission’s published guidance on the Public Benefit requirement under Charities Act 2011.

The Charity seeks to play a vital role in transforming education: boosting the work of others, focusing on impact and outcomes and spreading best practice. In this way, the Charity aims to improve the effectiveness of investment in education, especially where systems are most challenged. The Charity’s goal is to achieve transformed educational outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa by joining up, informing, inspiring and increasing impact for everyone investing in education in sub-Saharan Africa. The Charity has taken a step-by-step approach to its development. This started with a focus on higher education which has now been extended into tertiary education. Its aim is to work across the spectrum of education.

In the year ended 30 September 2020, the charity has refreshed its strategy to focus on four areas of work. In each of these areas we have been fortunate to receive financial support to make progress across each of these strategic areas and specific donors are acknowledged below. Across all of these areas of work we have been enormously grateful for the generous support of Robert Bosch Stiftung and Wanching Ang whose core funding has continued to enable our organisational development.

We now outline these four focus areas in more detail.

1) Supporting the knowledge ecosystem for education

The goal of this strategic area is to increase the use and usefulness of data and evidence for tertiary education. The intended impact is that educators, policy makers, employers, young people and investors are using data and evidence to drive their decisions, helped by local researchers and civil society.

Over the course of the year ended September 2020, we have been supported by Dubai Cares and the Jacobs Foundation to:

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Academics in Ghana. Discussing the quality of tertiary education

2) Quality of tertiary education

The focus for this area of work is to address the extreme shortage of faculty in colleges and universities in subSaharan Africa, to promote female leadership and to develop sustainable business models for universities and colleges. The intended impact is that universities and colleges have the investment and leadership needed to transform their institutions to delivering quality education at scale.

Over the course of the year ended September 2020 we have been supported by the MasterCard Foundation and Dubai Cares to:

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Student at a university in Nairobi, Kenya. Student Access.

3) Student access

The focus for this area of work is student finance. The intended impact is maximising the return on investment of scholarships, loans and grants so that more young people have the chance to attend university or college, complete their course and transition to work.

Over the course of the year ended September 2020 we have been supported by the Schaufler Foundation and Doug Miller to:

4) Employability

The focus for this area of work is the relationship between employers and universities and colleges. The intended impact is that young people have the skills and understanding of the workplace to transition successfully into work and succeed in their careers now and in the future.

Over the course of the year ended September 2020 we have been supported by Dubai Cares to:

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Achievements and performance

The African Education Research Database has proven to be a relevant and useful resource for different stakeholder communities, within African education and outside. Research publications, blogs and other media articles based on the analysis of the AERD are helping to raise the issue of local ownership in education research. Links to a selection of publications are listed below:

Kilombero, Tanzania. Mapping the landscape of education research by scholars based in sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from the African Education Research Database.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

We have raised the profile of the issue of access to education data and are now having conversations with a number of funders to improve their policies and practices as regards data openness.

The demographics of faculty in Ghana project and others have proven the charity’s ability to join up relevant partners in order to focus on collaboration on issues of high relevance for education in Africa. This has inspired a similar collaboration in East Africa and ESSA has raised the profile of this issue in the East African community.

ESSA’s activities in the scholarship space have laid the foundations for change, bringing together some of the most influential funders and providers of scholarships to students from sub-Saharan Africa. The publication of our analysis of scholarships in the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report has helped to raise the profile of lack of inclusion in scholarships. Coverage of our work was featured in the Financial Times.

Following on from ESSA’s landscaping of the knowledge space in tertiary education, we have built interest with our partners ZiziAfrique and the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) authority in Kenya to establish a platform for sharing data and evidence on TVET in the country. Across the continent we have worked with ZiziAfrique and the EdTech Hub to build consensus to establish a community of practice to increase access to and use of education data, with a first focus on mapping the current state of play as regards data use and access.

Our background research in female leadership and employability has laid the groundwork for impactful programming in the coming financial year. Next year we will be able to report on the impact of our jobs board and scholarships matching platform.

The charity is now established as a serious and relevant partner in the African tertiary education space.

Values

ESSA has changed over the last financial year: we have a largely new team and a refreshed strategy. The world has also changed, and we have learned a lot about how ESSA can have impact in the world. The time felt right to revisit our principles and craft a set of values that internally help to guide our actions and externally help people understand what ESSA stands for.

We held an in-depth discussion on what values we needed to achieve our strategy and how we might implement these values in our day-to-day work. Based on that session, we created a set of values which have also benefitted from feedback from the team and Board.

We are developing policies and ways of working to ensure we put our values into practice, including in the HR policies we are developing and in our partnership approach.

Evidence-driven

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Solutions-focused

Strengthening trust

Always learning

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Financial report

Income

Total income increased by 11% from £877,282 to £973,760.

Restricted income at £965,643 represented 99% of total income in the year, with all of the restricted income coming from three existing donors - The Robert Bosch Stiftung, Dubai Cares and the Schaufler Foundation.

Expenditure

Total expenditure for the year was £823,759, with 99% of this total chargeable to restricted donations. Expenditure grew by 52% and we carried out projects and programmes in all four of our focus areas while investing in organisational capabilities in the UK and Ghana.

We should record our thanks to all the donors that supported our activities in 2019/20 for their flexibility and understanding of the impact of the COVID pandemic on executing our programmes.

The Trustees consider that ESSA has risen to the pandemic’s challenges well:

Reserves

The charity’s reserves policy includes that funds should be maintained at the level that covers three months of core organisation expenditure. The Trustees consider that reserves set at this level ensure that, in the event of a significant drop in funding, they will be able to continue the charity's current activities while consideration is given to ways in which additional funds may be raised.

These reserves would typically be unrestricted reserves and the charity’s financial planning and fundraising seeks to grow unrestricted reserves, but we have set our policy to reflect that core costs can also be covered by restricted funding. At present, the restricted funding from The Robert Bosch Stiftung and Dubai Cares is notably supportive of core organisation costs from these funders’ shared intent to support ESSA to develop capability and influence to continue to grow our impact.

The Trustees’ target reserves level has increased from £100k in the last financial year to £200k reflecting ESSA investing in organisational capabilities in the UK and Ghana as noted above. At 30 September 2020, unrestricted reserves stood at £42,231 and restricted reserves were at £679,689. Of those restricted reserves, at least £350,000 from the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Dubai Cares funding can cover core operating costs, so total reserves available to cover core cost are almost £400k, almost double the target reserves level.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Fundraising and financial planning

ESSA’s material funding from The Robert Bosch Stiftung is coming to an end. It has generously donated €1m since 2016 as seed funding to establish ESSA as a viable and credible organisation. One sign of our credibility has been the £2.15m total contract value raised from other donors to September 2020 and that very success at fundraising is a source of confidence in our fundraising potential.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively influenced our potential funding during the 2020 calendar year in two distinct ways:

We expect donor finances overall to recover and we have had encouraging signals to that effect from existing donor relationships. Nevertheless, the Trustees consider that the charity’s sustainability is less determined by the total market for education donations than growing the charity’s own market share of that funding, and the latter is entirely in the charity’s hands. A recent and pleasing example of this is the charity’s first project for UNHCR, the United Nations’ global refugee agency which has been funded and begun since the start of the 2020/21 financial year. The Trustees and the charity have together proven adept at fundraising and there are invaluable existing donor relationships and a good pipeline of potential large institutional donors engaged with our refreshed strategy and its opportunities.

We will continue to fundraise for unrestricted donations and flexible restrictions. Nevertheless, our financial planning to support our refreshed strategy is prudent, based on expecting future donations to be mostly restricted and less flexible than current donations. We will be implementing best practice for managing a charity organisation from predominantly restricted funds, including adapting expenditure practices to build unrestricted reserves.

ESSA’s fundraising practice is in accordance with the Fundraising Regulator’s guidance Code on Fundraising Practice. No complaints have ever been received concerning ESSA’s fundraising activities. ESSA has not had any practice of unreasonable intrusion on a person’s privacy, of unreasonable persistence nor has it placed undue pressure on anybody to give money.

Going concern

Trustees have considered the financial sustainability of the organisation, including fundraising prospects and cashflow projections to September 2022, and are satisfied that ESSA can be considered a going concern for the purposes of the 2019/20 financial year accounts and so have prepared the financial accounts on that basis.

Trustees specifically considered the position were fundraising to be less successful than the prudent forecast. Trustees reviewed a worst-case option of no further funding and note that ESSA has already secured funding that will last until June 2022 at the current cost run rate.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Structure, governance and management

Legal structure

The charity is a company limited by guarantee incorporated under the Companies Act 2006 as a private company on 4 April 2016 (Company Number 10101086). It was entered on the Registers of Charities on 5 May 2016.

Governance

The Trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:

D Banda Appointed June 2020
P Dunne
C Foy
J Kibazo
N Matimu Appointed June 2020
K Ntwinga Appointed June 2020
J Rogall

Selection and appointment of Trustees

Suitable candidates are identified as being possible Trustees for the Board. After diligent screening initial contact is made by the Chair, Patrick Dunne. A conversation between the two parties takes place and if the candidate is found to be suitable and in agreement a further meeting is arranged with the director and another Board member. On completion, the Chair writes a report to the Board highlighting the candidate’s merits and a final decision is made.

The Board expanded in 2019/20 with the recruitment and appointment of three new Trustees in June. We used a professional search firm and had an open process with a diverse panel for selection and referencing. The new Trustees have each brought invaluable expertise, energy and ideas.

None of the Trustees has any beneficial interest in the company.

Trustee induction and training

All new Trustees receive a structured induction programme, covering all aspects of the role and the organisation. As part of this they are given copies of ESSA’s Memorandum and Articles of Association, governance document, strategy, business plan, the previous year's annual accounts, the current year's budget, code of conduct and any relevant committees' terms of reference.

New Trustees must complete and sign a declaration of interest, anti-bribery policy, fit and proper person's declaration and ESSA’s code of conduct.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Risk management

With the support of the executive and the Audit and Risk Committee, the Trustees regularly consider and examine the possible major strategic, business and operational risks to which ESSA may be exposed. Given the nature of ESSA’s work, the key areas of risk most relevant to ESSA are:

ESSA’s mitigation strategies include:

Grant making policy

ESSA will make a grant only if the non-governmental organisation or other charity meets the following criteria:

Trustee statement on COVID 19

The Trustees have considered the impact of COVID 19 on the operations of the charity and have put measures in place, including:

Organisation structure

ESSA’s CEO is appointed by the Trustees to manage the day-to-day operations of the charity. A new CEO, Lucy Heady, was promoted from Director of Knowledge and Research during 2019/20 following the decision of the founding CEO Olaf Hahn to step down. The Trustees would like to record their gratitude to Dr Hahn for his role in establishing ESSA as the credible organisation it has become and for remaining as a trusted advisor to the CEO and the leadership team.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Powers are delegated to the Leadership Team under a schedule of reserved powers approved by the Board. ESSA’s leadership team comprises the Chief Executive Officer, Director of Finance and Head of Research and Insight.

Remuneration policy for key management personnel

The pay of the Charity’s CEO is set by the Chair of the Board of Trustees. The salary is set to be competitive and benchmarked against similar charitable organisations and these principles apply to all senior management positions.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

TRUSTEES' REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS' REPORT) (CONTINUED)

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Statement of Trustees' responsibilities

The Trustees, who are also the directors of Education Sub-Saharan Africa for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company Law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.

In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Disclosure of Information to Auditors

Insofar as each of the Trustees of the charity at the date of approval of this report is aware there is no relevant audit information (information needed by the charity’s auditor in connection with preparing the audit report) of which the charity’s auditor is unaware. Each Trustee has taken all of the steps that he/she should have taken as a Trustee in order to make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the charity’s auditor is aware of that information. This report has been prepared taking advantage of the exemptions available to small companies under Companies Act 2006.

Auditor

In accordance with the company's articles, a resolution proposing that Crowe U.K. LLP be reappointed as auditor of the company will be put at a General Meeting.

This report has been prepared under the exemptions available in the Companies Act for small companies.

The Trustees' report was approved by the Board of Trustees.

P Dunne Trustee/Director

Dated: 9 February 2021

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Education Sub-Saharan Africa for the year ended 30 September 2020 which comprise the Statement of financial activities, Balance sheet, Statement of cash flows and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the ISAs (UK) require us to report to you where:

Other information

The Trustees are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA (CONTINUED)

In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report included within the Trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 10, the Trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the Trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the Trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE MEMBERS OF EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA (CONTINUED)

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists.

Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Tim Redwood

Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of Crowe U.K. LLP Statutory Auditor London 9 February 2021

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDING AN INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Notes
Income from:
Donations and other
3
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
4
Net movement in funds
Fund balances at 1
October 2019
Fund balances at 30
September 2020		 Unrestricted
funds
2019/20
£
8,116
11,644
(3,528)
45,759
42,231		 Restricted
funds
2019/20
£
965,643
812,115
153,528
523,161
676,689		 Total
2019/20
£
973,760
823,759
150,000
568,920
718,920		 Total
2018/19
£
877,282
543,477
333,805
235,115
568,920

The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.

All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

BALANCE SHEET AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Notes
Fixed assets:
Tangible assets
9
Current assets:
Debtors
10
Cash at bank and in hand
Liabilities:
Creditors: amounts falling
due within one year
11
Net current assets
Total assets less current
liabilities
Income funds:
Restricted funds
12
Unrestricted funds
12		 2019/20
£
102
784,298
784,400
(70,808)		 2019/20
£
5,327
713,592
718,920
676,689
42,231
718,920		 2019/20
£
6,165
606,272
612,437
(47,019)		 2018/19
£
3,502
565,418
568,920
523,161
45,759
568,920

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subject to the small companies regime.

The financial statements were approved and authorised for issue by the Trustees on 9 February 2021.

P Dunne

Trustee

Company Registration No. 10101086

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020

Notes
Cash flows from operating
activities:
Cash generated from
(absorbed by) operations
15
Investing activities:
Purchase of tangible fixed
assets
Net cash provided by
(used in) investing
activities
Net cash used in financing
activities
Change in cash and cash
equivalents in the
reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents
at the beginning of the
reporting period
Cash and cash equivalents
at the end of the
reporting period		 2019/20
£
(3,252)		 2019/20
£
181,278
-
(3,252)
-
178,026
606,272
784,298		 2018/19
£
(2,855)		 2018/19
£
344,015
(2,855)
-
341,160
265,112
606,272

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

1. Accounting policies

Charity information

Education Sub-Saharan Africa is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 3rd Floor, Chancery House, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1JB.

1.1 Accounting convention

The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's Articles of Incorporation, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest pound value.

Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rate of exchange prevailing at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate prevailing at the date of the transactions. All differences are taken through the Statement of financial activities.

Trustees have considered the financial sustainability of the organisation, including fundraising prospects and cashflow projections to September 2022, and are satisfied that ESSA can be considered a going concern for the purposes of the 2019/20 financial year accounts and so have prepared the financial accounts on that basis.

Trustees specifically considered the position were fundraising to be less successful than the prudent forecast. Trustees reviewed a worst-case option of no further funding and note that ESSA has already secured funding that will last until June 2022 at the current cost run rate.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

1.2 Charitable funds

Unrestricted funds are available for use at the discretion of the Trustees in furtherance of their charitable objectives unless the funds have been designated for other purposes.

Restricted funds are funds subject to specific expenditure instructions which are laid out by the donor that fall within the wider purposes of the charity.

1.3 Income

Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.

Cash donations are recognised on receipt. Other donations are recognised once the charity has been notified of the donation, unless performance conditions require deferral of the amount. Income tax recoverable in relation to donations received under Gift Aid or deeds of covenant is recognised at the time of the donation.

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EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

Legacies are recognised on receipt or otherwise if the charity has been notified of an impending distribution, the amount is known, and receipt is expected. If the amount is not known, the legacy is treated as a contingent asset.

Income from donations, grants and other sources is recognised on an accruals basis and included in the Statement of financial activities when the charity is entitled to the income, when receipt is probable, and when it can be measured reliably. Grants that are subject to performance-related conditions or subject to funder conditions related to the timing of expenditure are deferred until those conditions are met.

1.4 Expenditure

Liabilities are recognised as expenditure as soon as there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that settlement will be required, and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably.

Grants to other organisations are accounted for when they have been committed in writing to the recipient.

All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. All expenses including support costs and governance costs are allocated or apportioned to the applicable expenditure headings.

Support costs have all been allocated between governance costs and other support costs. Governance costs comprise all costs involving the public accountability of the charity and its compliance with regulation and good practice. These costs include costs related to statutory audit and legal fees together with an apportionment of overhead and support costs.

Services received on an ‘in kind’ basis are accounted for at the cost the charity would otherwise have to pay for the same services.

1.5 Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.

Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:

Computers 25% straight line

The gain or loss arising on the disposal of an asset is determined as the difference between the sale proceeds and the carrying value of the asset and is recognised in net income/(expenditure) for the year.

1.6 Impairment of fixed assets

At each reporting end date, the charity reviews the carrying amounts of its tangible assets to determine whether there is any indication that those assets have suffered an impairment loss. If any such indication exists, the recoverable amount of the asset is estimated in order to determine the extent of the impairment loss (if any).

24

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

1.7 Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts.

1.8 Financial instruments

The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Basic financial assets

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Basic financial liabilities

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Derecognition of financial liabilities

Financial liabilities are derecognised when the charity’s contractual obligations expire or are discharged or cancelled.

1.9 Employee benefits

The cost of any unused holiday entitlement is recognised in the period in which the employee’s services are received.

25

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

1.10 Retirement benefits

Payments to defined contribution retirement benefit schemes are charged as an expense as they fall due.

2. Critical accounting estimates and judgements

In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the Trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

26

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

3. Donations and other

Robert Bosch Stiftung
Robert Bosch Stiftung gift in
kind
The Schaufler Foundation
Dubai Cares
Southampton Row Trust
Wanching Ang
Other income
Foreign exchange gain		 Unrestricted
funds
2019/20
£
-
-
-
-
-
-
8,116
-
8,116		 Restricted
funds
2019/20
£
426,678
67,000
75,000
396,965
-
-
-
-
965,643		 Total
2019/20
£
426,678
67,000
75,000
396,965
-
-
8,116
-
973,760		 Total
2018/19
£
-
67,000
125,000
392,434
58,791
214,272
761
19,024
877,282

4. Charitable activities

Staff costs
Programmes & projects
Secondment gift in kind
Travel & subsistence
Administration & services
Communications
Conferences
Foreign exchange losses
Grants to partners (see note 5)
Support and governance costs
(see note 6)		 Unrestricted
funds
2019/20
£
(6,378)
2,538
-
831
5,295
-
-
7,324
9,610
-
2,034
11,644		 Restricted
funds
2019/20
£
403,298
238,859
67,000
38,993
22,647
11,890
219
-
782,906
-
29,210
812,115		 Total
2019/20
£
396,920
241,397
67,000
39,824
27,942
11,890
219
7,324
792,516
-
31,243
823,759		 Total
2018/19
£
190,307
134,248
67,000
15,894
37,007
1,840
6,939
-
453,235
38,491
51,751
543,477

Note: Unrestricted income staff costs are negative, representing 2018/19 staff holiday and HMRC charge accruals made as unrestricted in 2018/19, while all staff costs and accruals in 2019/20 are booked to restricted income. This reflects that Bosch Foundation funding for the first €0.5m tranche to 2018/19 was unrestricted, while the second €0.5m tranche that applies from 2019/20 is restricted.

27

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

5. Grants to partners

Association Ivorienne
Demographics of Faculty
Bureau		 Unrestricted
funds
2019/20
£
-
-
-		 Restricted
funds
2019/20
£
-
-
-		 Total
2019/20
£
-
-
-		 Total
2018/19
£
9,373
29,118
38,491

6. Support and governance costs

Legal and professional
Accountancy
Board meetings
Audit
Charitable activities		 Unrestricted
funds
2019/20
£
-
-
2,034
-
2,034		 Restricted
funds
2019/20
£
4,207
-
14,263
10,740
29,210		 Total
2019/20
£
4,207
-
16,296
10,740
31,243		 Total
2018/19
£
15,694
21,736
4,181
10,140
51,751

Governance costs includes payments to the auditors of £10,740 for audit fees including VAT. No fees were paid to the auditor for other services.

7. Trustees

None of the Trustees (or any persons connected with them) received any remuneration during the year, and none were reimbursed for any expenses. The Board costs in note 6 above relate to a Board meeting held in Africa.

28

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

8. Employees

Staff costs:
Wages and salaries
Social security costs
Pension costs
Other staff costs
Charitable activities		 Total
2019/20
£
316,863
36,354
5,827
37,875
396,920		 Total
2018/19
£
136,497
10,674
2,120
41,016
190,307

The following number of employees received employee benefits (excluding employer pension costs) during the year between:

2019/20 2018/19
No. No.
£60,000 - £69,999 2 -
£70,000 - £79,999 - -
£80,000 - £89,999 1 -

The total employee benefits including pension contributions and employer's national insurance for key management personnel were £246,712 (2018/19: £16,143).

The average number of employees (headcount based on number of staff employed) during the year was:

Management and
administration
Project management and
support
Total		 2019/20
No.
3
3
6		 2018/19
No.
3
1
4

29

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

9. Tangible fixed assets

Cost:
At 1 October 2019
Additions
Disposals
At 30 September 2020
Depreciation & impairment:
At 1 October 2019
Charge for year
At 30 September 2020
Carrying Amount:
At 30 September 2020
At 30 September 2019		 Computers
£
4,865
3,252
-
8,117
(1,363)
(1,427)
(2,789)
5,327
3,502

10. Debtors

Other debtors
Prepayments and accrued
income		 2019/20
£
102
-
102		 2018/19
£
-
6,165
6,165

11. Creditors: amounts falling due within one year

Taxation and social security
costs
Trade Creditors
Other creditors
Accruals and deferred income		 2019/20
£
13,503
29,222
494
27,589
70,808		 2018/19
£
7,988
9,800
5,213
24,020
47,020

30

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

12. Movements in funds

Movements 2019/20

Restricted Funds:
Robert Bosch Stiftung
Robert Bosch Stiftung gift
in kind
Dubai Cares
Accessibility and Visibility
of African Research on
Education
Demographics of Faculty
Pilot Scholarship Impact
Hub
State of Statistics in Africa
Total restricted funds
Unrestricted funds		 Balance
at 1
October
2019
£
-
-
340,696
15,611
47,921
115,288
3,645
523,161
45,759
568,920		 Income
£
426,678
67,000
396,965
-
-
75,000
-
965,643
8,116
973,760		 Expenditure
£
(150,336)
(67,000)
(361,436)
(19,256)
(47,921)
(166,167)
-
(812,115)
(11,644)
(823,759)		 Transfers
£
-
-
-
3,645
-
-
(3,645)
-
-		 Balance at
30
September
2020
£
276,343
-
376,225
-
-
24,121
-
676,689
42,231
718,920

The Robert Bosch Stiftung [Germany] seed-funded ESSA in 2016 with a €1m commitment to help establish ESSA as a credible agent working to improve access to education and to improve education quality in SubSaharan Africa. The funding was broken into two €0.5m tranches and the second tranche began in 2019/20, co-funding ESSA’s core team and operations to support our third-party funded projects and programmes.

Robert Bosch Stiftung gift in kind: This represents a secondment for the position of ‘founding director‘ who has worked at ESSA since our start in 2016. The individual devotes 80% of his time to working for ESSA and the financial value of this secondment is estimated to be £67,000 p.a.

Dubai Cares: In 2019/20 we received the second $550k tranche of our $1.5m programme with Dubai Cares. The funding covers four strands of work: (1) human capacity building in tertiary education, (2) employability and business engagement, (3) leadership and managerial skills of leaders in tertiary education and (4) knowledge transfer and practical adoption. We have made progress in all of these areas, though slowed by the COVID pandemic. The work will continue in 2020/21.

Accessibility and Visibility of African Research on Education : This programme was established in 2016 funded by an individual donor in 2016 and the Jacobs Foundation [Switzerland] developing the database of Africabased research.

31

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

State of statistics in Africa : As agreed with the individual donor, the balance carried forward from this project to map the situation of statistics at mathematical faculties in four African countries was applied to the development of the database into Africa-based research.

Demographics of Faculty : This program was funded by The MasterCard Foundation [Canada] to carry out a pilot programme in Ghana, looking at the demand and provision side of faculty in the country in order to establish educational data for policy planning. In 2019/20 the data was communicated, and the funding supported the extension of the study that Dubai Care is funding.

Pilot Scholarship Impact Hub: This programme was established in 2018 to increase the impact of scholarships for African students, funded by an individual donor and the Schaufler Foundation [Germany]. Our research featured in UNESCO’s 2020 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report on Inclusion and Education, as the official monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goal 4b on scholarships.

Movements 2018/19

Restricted Funds:
Robert Bosch Stiftung gift
in kind
Dubai Cares
Accessibility and Visibility
of African Research on
Education
Demographics of Faculty
Pilot Scholarship Impact
Hub
State of Statistics in Africa
Total restricted funds
Unrestricted funds		 Balance
at 1
October
2019
£
-
-
27,436
20,453
88,859
16,841
153,589
81,526
235,115		 Income
£
67,000
392,435
-
-
183,790
643,225
234,057
877,282		 Expenditure
£
(67,000)
(51,739)
(11,825)
(16,808)
(40,938)
(85,343)
(273,653)
(269,824)
(543,477)		 Transfers
£
-
-		 Balance at
30
September
2020
£
-
340,696
15,611
3,645
47,921
115,288
523,161
45,759
568,920

32

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

13. Analysis of net assets between funds

Fund balances at 30
September 2020 are
represented by:
Tangible assets
Current assets/(liabilities)		 Unrestricted
funds
2019/20
£
5,327
36,903
42,231		 Restricted
funds
2019/20
£
-
676,689
676,689		 Total
2019/20
£
5,327
713,592
718,920		 Total
2018/19
£
3,502
565,418
568,920

14. Related party transactions

There was one transaction with a related party during the year. A £8,000 donation was made by Boardelta Limited which is significantly controlled by the Chair, Patrick Dunne.

15. Cash generated from operations

Surplus/(deficit) for the year
Add back depreciation charge
Loss/(profit) on disposals
Movements in Working Capital
(Increase)/decrease in debtors
Increase/(decrease) in
creditors
Net cash used in operating
activities		 2019/20
£
150,000
1,427
-
6,064
23,788
181,278		 2018/19
£
333,805
771
-
(2,465)
11,904
344,015

33

EDUCATION SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2020 (CONTINUED)

16. Statement of financial activities including an income and expenditure account for the year ended 30 September 2019

Income from:
Donations and other
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Net movement in funds
Fund balances at 1 October
2018
Fund balances at 30
September 2019		 Unrestricted
funds
2018/19
£
234,057
269,824
(35,767) -
81,526
45,759		 Restricted
funds
2018/19
£
643,225
273,653
369,572
153,589
523,161		 Total
2018/19
£
877,282
543,477
333,805
235,115
568,920		 Total
2017/18
£
487,766
572,788
(85,022)
320,137
235,115

34