Why We Built e-Salone

It started in a classroom in Sierra Leone.

Two boys, sitting three rows apart, had no idea that decades later they would be building technology to help thousands of classrooms just like theirs. We were just kids back then — worried about homework, football after school, and whether we'd pass our exams. Abubakarr rushed from the market where he sold kanya (a local snack), and Ibrahim rushed from Kissy slaughter yard where he sold cow skin — both racing to catch the afternoon school shift, most times late for assembly. We'd meet again in the evening at Lowcost Junction — Abubakarr selling kerosene by the pint (in a beer bottle), Ibrahim helping his mother sell roasted meat.

That classroom didn't have computers. It barely had enough textbooks. Our teacher kept attendance in a worn notebook, its pages curling from humidity. Report cards were handwritten, and if you lost yours, good luck getting another one.

We are Ibrahim Bakarr Jalloh and Abubakarr Kamara — childhood friends from primary school who grew up to build e-Salone, a school management system designed specifically for Sierra Leone.

This is our story.

The Journey That Took Us Away

Our paths stayed connected through secondary school and into university. Ibrahim pursued Information Systems at IPAM, while Abubakarr studied Mathematics at Fourah Bay College — the oldest university in West Africa. We both had dreams that would take us beyond Sierra Leone, but Sierra Leone was always home.

After graduation, we both had the opportunity to study abroad. Ibrahim headed to Ankara University for a Master's in Computer Engineering. Abubakarr went to Yıldız Technical University in Istanbul for graduate studies in Statistics. For the first time since primary school, we were in different countries.

Then came our careers. Ibrahim became a senior software engineer, building solutions for companies like Procter & Gamble — learning how technology can operate at massive scale. Abubakarr worked in customer success, including roles at Turkish Airlines — learning how large organisations serve millions of customers.

We were living the dream we and so many of our contemporaries had aspired to: international education, global careers, stability. But something was missing.

Coming Home Changed Everything

Every time we visited Sierra Leone, we saw the same problems in schools that we remembered from our childhood. Actually, we saw worse.

We visited a school in Freetown where the principal showed us stacks of paper registers — some water-damaged, some missing pages, some completely illegible. Last year's attendance records? Gone. Flooding. Three years of student data, lost in one rainy season.

We met a teacher who spent every Sunday — time she could have spent with her family — manually calculating grades and writing report cards by hand. Long hours every week, just on paperwork. She didn't become a teacher to be a clerk.

We talked to parents who had no idea whether their children were actually attending school. They pay the fees, send their kids off in uniform, and hope for the best. One mother discovered her son had been missing school for weeks.

The Problem is Bigger Than We Thought

When we started researching, the numbers shocked us.

Sierra Leone has over 13,000 schools serving 3.5 million students. According to the 2024 MBSSE Annual School Census, only 4% of schools have computers. Yet 91% have access to mobile networks. Teachers spend countless hours on administrative tasks that could be automated. Parents remain disconnected from their children's education.

The international school management systems? They cost thousands of dollars, require constant internet, and are designed for schools in London or New York — not Kenema or Bo.

Sierra Leone needed something different. Something built for our reality.

What We're Building

e-Salone is a school management system designed from the ground up for Sierra Leone.

We built e-Salone to work with low internet connectivity, on basic phones, and at a price that Sierra Leonean schools can actually afford. Because what good is technology if the people who need it most can't use it?

Why This Matters

Education changed our lives. It took two boys from a classroom in Sierra Leone to universities in Turkey and careers at global companies. Education is the reason we had the skills to build e-Salone in the first place.

But we also know that education alone isn't enough. The system around it needs to work. Teachers need time to teach. Parents need to be involved. Schools need to keep proper records. Students need to show up.

When a parent gets an SMS saying "Your child was absent today," that's not just a notification. That's a conversation that happens at dinner. That's a child who knows someone is paying attention. That's a problem caught early, before it becomes a dropout.

When a teacher saves hours every week on paperwork, that's not just efficiency. That's more time for lesson planning, for helping struggling students, for being the kind of teacher who changes lives.

When a school never loses records again, that's not just data protection. That's a student who can prove their grades, apply for scholarships, and build a future on a foundation that won't wash away in the next flood.

Our Commitment

We could have stayed abroad. Our careers were comfortable. The salaries were good. Nobody would have blamed us.

But every time we thought about those classrooms — our classrooms — we knew we had to come back. We have skills that Sierra Leone needs. We understand problems that outsiders don't see. We have a responsibility to use what we've learned to help the country that raised us.

e-Salone is that commitment made real.

We're not building this to get rich. We're building this because we believe every school in Sierra Leone deserves modern tools. Every parent deserves to know how their child is doing. Every teacher deserves to spend their time teaching. Every student deserves a system that supports their success.

Join Us

We're currently rolling out e-Salone to our first schools. If you're a principal, teacher, or school administrator who wants to be part of this journey, we want to hear from you.

We're offering a full term free trial — no payment required until you're sure e-Salone works for your school. We'll provide dedicated support, training, and a direct line to our team.

Because this isn't just our mission. It's Sierra Leone's mission. And we can only do it together.