Question 1

What is Ranza Academy?

Accepted Answer

Ranza Academy is an entrepreneurship academy that takes you from a first idea to a business ready for funding and growth. In one place you find a self-assessment, a four-stage journey of programmes and courses with certificates, mentors and trainers, a marketplace of accredited service providers, and Msaidizi, our assistant. It is operated by Ranza SARL.

Question 2

Who is Ranza Academy for?

Accepted Answer

Entrepreneurs and future entrepreneurs first — in the Comoros, across Africa and beyond. Around them: mentors and trainers who guide them, investors looking for prepared projects, service providers (accounting, legal, design, digital…) who help them build, and sponsors and partner agencies who support programmes. This FAQ has a section for each.

Question 3

Which languages is the platform available in?

Accepted Answer

French, English and Arabic. Switch at any time with FR / EN / ع at the top of the page; your choice is remembered. Language courses (English, French exam preparation, Shikomori) keep their teaching content in the language being taught.

Question 4

How do I create an account?

Accepted Answer

Entrepreneurs sign up directly with “Sign in → Create an account”, by email or with Google or Microsoft, and confirm their email address. Mentors, trainers and investors apply with “Join us” in the About section; our team reviews each application and sends an invitation. Service providers apply with “Become an accredited provider”.

Question 5

Is Ranza Academy free?

Accepted Answer

You can start and stay free. Every new learner gets a free trial with full access, then continues as an Explorer: Stage 1 in full, a preview of every other course, and one course of your choice followed in full with its certificate. A membership opens everything — every programme and course, all certificates and programme awards, mentoring and live class sessions. Current prices and the trial length are on the Pricing page.

Question 6

What is Msaidizi?

Accepted Answer

Msaidizi (“helper” in Swahili) is the platform’s assistant. Ask it a question and it answers from this FAQ, our published guides, and our privacy policy and terms — and shows you where the answer comes from. If it has no answer and you are signed in, it can pass your question to our team.

Question 7

How is my personal data protected?

Accepted Answer

We collect only what the platform needs to work: your account details, your learning progress, your projects and your payments. Card details never reach us — PayPal handles them. Your projects stay private unless you choose to share them. You can ask us to correct or delete your data at contact@ranzaacademy.com. The full details are in our Privacy Policy.

Question 8

I have an idea (or a small business). Where do I start?

Accepted Answer

Start with the self-assessment on the homepage: eight questions, about ten minutes. It gives you a readiness score out of 100, places you in one of the four stages — Awareness, Education, Activation, Execution — and recommends the courses that fit. Then create your account and follow your stage’s programme.

Question 9

What can I do without paying?

Accepted Answer

After your free trial you remain an Explorer, with no time limit: all of Stage 1 with its certificates, the first lessons of every other course as a preview, and one course of your choice followed in full and certified. You can change your free course until you earn its certificate. Mentoring, live class sessions and programme awards are part of the membership.

Question 10

How can I pay for my membership?

Accepted Answer

Open Membership, choose a plan and a payment method. By card or PayPal, your membership starts immediately. By mobile money (MVola) or in cash at our office, you receive a reference code (RA-…): pay, send us the transaction number or a photo of the receipt, and our team confirms it, usually within a working day. Prices are in euros, with the equivalent in Comorian francs shown.

Question 11

Can I cancel, or change my plan?

Accepted Answer

Yes, at any time, in Membership → Billing. “Stop monthly renewal” ends the automatic payments; you keep your access until the end of the month already paid. You can also move from monthly to 6 or 12 months: once paid, the monthly renewal stops by itself and the new months start when your current month ends, so you lose no days. Billing also shows your next payment and your full payment history.

Question 12

Can I get a refund?

Accepted Answer

Write to contact@ranzaacademy.com with your payment reference (RA-…). Our team reviews each request and can refund the unused part of your membership, or the full amount where justified (for example a duplicate payment). The refund goes back the way you paid: through PayPal for card and PayPal payments, or by mobile money or cash for the others. Access ends when the unused time is refunded. Our Terms set out the details.

Question 13

How do certificates and programme awards work?

Accepted Answer

You earn a course certificate when you complete every lesson of the course, including its quizzes. A programme groups several courses: each course lights up in the programme’s mosaic once completed with a mark of at least 86%, and when all are lit you receive the programme award. Every certificate and award carries a code and a QR code that anyone can check on our verification page.

Question 14

What is “My projects”, and how is my project evaluated?

Accepted Answer

In My projects you describe your business idea and choose its sector. When you are ready, submit it for evaluation: a mentor or reviewer scores its readiness out of 100 across several dimensions and gives you an action plan. You can improve the project and submit it again; each project keeps its own score and next step.

Question 15

How do I get a mentor?

Accepted Answer

Members book one-to-one sessions in Mentoring: choose a mentor by expertise, pick a time, and link the project you want to talk about so the mentor can prepare. Sessions take place online or in person. Trainers also run live class sessions for their courses, listed in your Calendar.

Question 16

Who can see my project? Can I show it to investors?

Accepted Answer

Your project is private by default: only you, your mentor and reviewers see it. You decide whether to make it available to investors, and whether to publish a short summary as a public project idea under its sector — the public summary appears only after our team approves it, and you can withdraw it at any time.

Question 17

How do I join as an investor?

Accepted Answer

Apply with “Join us” in the About section and choose Investor. Our team reviews each application and, once accepted, sends you an invitation to create your account. Investor access is by invitation, so entrepreneurs know who can see their projects.

Question 18

What do I see as an investor?

Accepted Answer

The Opportunities page lists projects that entrepreneurs have prepared and chosen to present to investors: sector and location, the pitch, the funding requested and the stake offered, the financial forecast, and the readiness score given by a mentor or reviewer. You can also attend public events and investor sessions listed in the calendar.

Question 19

Does Ranza Academy guarantee or take part in investments?

Accepted Answer

No. Ranza Academy prepares entrepreneurs and introduces projects; it does not give investment advice, hold funds, or guarantee any project or return. The readiness score reflects a project’s preparation, not its future performance. Each investor carries out their own due diligence and agrees terms directly with the entrepreneur.

Question 20

How is project information kept confidential?

Accepted Answer

Entrepreneurs choose what they share. Only projects they have made available to investors appear in Opportunities, and only invited, reviewed investors can open them. Please use what you read there solely to assess the opportunity, and do not pass it on without the entrepreneur’s agreement.

Question 21

How do I become an accredited provider?

Accepted Answer

Apply with “Become an accredited provider”: give your business name and trades, then confirm your email. Sign in and upload your documents in Profile & accreditation — trade register, tax certificate, and professional body or insurance certificates where they apply. Our team reviews the file; you can follow its status (applied, under review, accredited) on the same page.

Question 22

What happens once I am accredited?

Accepted Answer

Your listing becomes public in Services, with the “accredited” mark. In My services you publish what you offer, each with a fixed price, a price range or “on request”. Entrepreneurs send you requests, which arrive in Incoming requests; you reply, deliver, and they can leave a rating that you may answer. Your application stays invisible to the public until it is accredited.

Question 23

What is a voucher, and how am I paid?

Accepted Answer

A voucher is a code issued by Ranza Academy or a partner organisation that covers all or part of a service for an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur gives the code when requesting your service; the issuing organisation settles the covered amount with you under the terms agreed at accreditation. For everything else, you agree the price and payment directly with your client.

Question 24

Can an accreditation be refused, or suspended later?

Accepted Answer

Yes. An application can be refused if the documents are incomplete or do not match the trade; you will see the reason and can apply again with a complete file. An accreditation can be suspended, for example after repeated complaints or expired documents — the listing is then hidden until the matter is resolved. Keep your documents up to date in Profile & accreditation.

Question 25

What can a sponsor do on Ranza Academy?

Accepted Answer

A sponsor supports entrepreneurs in two ways. You can sponsor a programme: your name and logo appear on the programme’s page and on the certificates and awards it issues. And you can fund access for learners — memberships or services offered to the entrepreneurs you choose to support, through sponsored places or vouchers.

Question 26

How do we become a sponsor?

Accepted Answer

Write to contact@ranzaacademy.com or call the number in the About section. We agree together on the programme or the group of learners you want to support, the duration and the budget, then set up your sponsor profile with your logo. No technical work is needed on your side.

Question 27

How do we follow the results of our sponsorship?

Accepted Answer

We agree the follow-up with each sponsor at the start: typically the number of learners supported, courses completed, certificates and programme awards earned, and projects evaluated. Personal data is shared only in line with our Privacy Policy and with the learners’ agreement.

Question 28

How can an agency or institution work with Ranza Academy?

Accepted Answer

Two ways, which can be combined. As a sponsor, you brand a programme or fund learners without managing anything. As a partner organisation, you receive your own space on the platform, under your name and logo, with your own team (partner officers) and your own learners — while using Ranza Academy’s programmes, courses and tools. Contact us to discuss which fits.

Question 29

What can a partner officer do?

Accepted Answer

Within their own organisation, partner officers can review and decide provider accreditations, issue vouchers, publish guides and procedures in the knowledge base, follow and mediate service requests, approve public project ideas, and enrol learners. The exact permissions of each role are set by Ranza Academy’s administrators and can be adjusted for your organisation.

Question 30

Can we use Ranza Academy’s programmes, or run our own?

Accepted Answer

Both. Ranza Academy can share its programmes with your organisation so your learners follow them directly, with certificates. You can also have programmes of your own, with your objectives, your cohort dates and your sponsor name. Course content can be authored by your trainers or prepared with our team.

Question 31

Is our organisation’s data kept separate?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Each partner organisation’s learners, projects, vouchers, payments and settings are kept separate from the others’, and your officers see only your organisation’s data. A person can be given access to more than one organisation with the same login, by invitation. Ranza Academy’s administrators operate the platform as a whole, as described in our Privacy Policy.

Frequently asked questions