Terms of Use

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are a binding agreement between you and M-Office Portal Limited ("we", "us", the "Company"), the operator of Africa Rising Academy ("the Academy", the "Platform"). By creating an account, ticking the acceptance box at registration, making a payment, or otherwise using the Platform, you accept these Terms in full — including the disclaimers in sections 4–5, the limitation of liability in section 17, and the binding arbitration and class-action waiver in section 20. Ticking the acceptance box has the same legal effect as your handwritten signature. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

These Terms apply to every capacity in which you use the Academy — as a learner, an employer or hiring organisation, a sponsor or donor, a content partner, an ambassador/affiliate, or an organisation administrator. Role-specific sections apply in addition, not instead.

1. The service

The Academy is a skills, certification and opportunity platform operated by M-Office Portal Limited. It offers practical courses and verifiable certifications across career, enterprise and capacity-building pillars — including hands-on certification for software published by M-Office Portal Limited (ERPRevolution, School-IMS, Hospital-IMS) and courses created by vetted third-party content partners. Depending on what is enabled at any given time, the Platform may also include: a Certified Talent Network, sponsorship and scholarship programmes (including the Community Scholarship Fund, co-funded seats and sponsor-to-hire scholarships), memberships and bundles, cohort-based deliveries, recertification, team and organisation seats and branded organisation portals, an ambassador programme, demand voting and waitlists, gamification and rewards, and related features. Any feature may be offered, modified, gated, or withdrawn at our discretion (section 15).

A pan-African platform, built country by country. The Academy is designed to serve learners, employers, sponsors and creators across the African continent and beyond. We grow the catalogue one market at a time — our initial courses focus on Nigeria and Nigerian rules, rates and institutions, with other African countries following over time. Wherever a course, figure, scheme or example is country-specific, it describes that country only, as at the date it was authored; it is not guidance for any other country, and the availability of a course in your country does not mean its content applies there (see section 4).

2. Eligibility & your account

• The Academy is intended for professional and workplace training by adults and persons of working age. By registering you confirm you are legally capable of entering into this agreement.
• You must provide accurate, current information and keep it updated. You are responsible for all activity under your account and for keeping your credentials secure. Notify us promptly of any suspected compromise.
• Accounts are personal to one individual and may not be shared, sold or transferred. Certificates are tied to the person who earned them.
• If you sign in through a third-party identity provider (e.g. Google, Microsoft, Apple), your use of that provider is governed by its own terms; we are not responsible for the provider.

3. Courses, enrolment, pricing & payments

• Some courses are free and some are paid. The price, currency and what is included are shown before checkout. Prices, discounts, bundles, memberships and tiers may change at any time; changes do not affect enrolments already paid for.
• Payments are processed by independent payment providers (currently Paystack and Stripe). By paying you authorise the charge and agree to the provider's terms. We never receive or store your full card details and are not responsible for the acts or omissions of payment providers.
• Memberships and bundles. Where an All-Access membership or similar plan is offered, its scope, duration and renewal terms are those stated at purchase. Membership grants access while it is active; it is not a perpetual licence to the whole catalogue.
• Co-funded seats. Where offered, a co-funded seat means you pay the stated share and the Community Scholarship Fund or a sponsor covers the balance. Co-funding is discretionary, subject to available funds and eligibility vetting, and may be withdrawn before enrolment completes. Only the amount you actually paid is ever refundable (per the refund terms below).
• Presale and promotional offers (including founder presales, coupons and referral discounts) are subject to their stated conditions, are non-transferable unless stated, have no cash value, and may be limited, corrected or withdrawn — including where we reasonably suspect abuse.
• Cohorts. Where a course runs as a cohort, the schedule and any live components are as described at enrolment; we may reschedule or merge cohorts and will take reasonable steps to notify you.
• Recertification. Certificates may carry an expiry date. Renewal may require a paid recertification exam at the then-current fee.
• Taxes. Prices may be inclusive or exclusive of applicable taxes as stated at checkout; you are responsible for any taxes that apply to you.
• Refunds. If something goes wrong or a course is materially not as described, contact us; refund requests are considered case-by-case. Except where required by law, no refund is due once you have substantially consumed a course, sat its exam, or been issued its certificate; membership fees, sponsorships, donations and promotional purchases are non-refundable except as required by law. Nothing in this section reduces statutory rights that cannot be waived.

4. Educational information only — no professional advice

Everything on the Platform is provided for general education and information only. Courses, lessons, exams, templates, checklists, examples, worked figures, community content, AI-assisted or partner-authored material, emails and any other content (together, "Content"):

• is not legal, tax, accounting, audit, financial, investment, immigration, customs, regulatory, employment, medical, safety or any other species of professional advice, and is not a substitute for advice from a qualified professional who knows your specific situation;
• does not create any advisor–client, fiduciary or professional relationship between you and the Company, its staff, instructors, content partners, sponsors or ambassadors;
• may describe laws, rates, tariffs, statutory schemes, market conditions and business practices as at the time of authoring, for the particular country the course addresses — today most often Nigeria, with more African markets added over time. These change without notice, differ between countries, and material written for one country is not guidance for any other — you must independently verify anything you intend to rely on under the law of your own country;
• may contain errors or omissions despite our review processes. We do not warrant that any Content is accurate, complete, current or fit for your purpose.

You agree not to treat any Content as advice and not to act, or refrain from acting, on the basis of Content without independent verification and, where appropriate, professional advice. Any decision you make — starting, funding, pricing, registering or operating a business; importing or exporting; hiring, paying or dismissing staff; filing or not filing anything with any authority; making any purchase or investment — is your decision alone, made at your sole risk.

5. No guarantee of results; assumption of risk; release

• No outcome is promised. We do not guarantee that you will pass any exam, earn any certificate, gain employment, be contacted by any employer, win any scholarship, obtain any licence or approval, or achieve any income, profit, funding, savings, growth or other business or career result.
• Illustrations are not promises. Any figures, case studies, testimonials, outcome bands, "typical earnings", starting-capital estimates or success stories are illustrative or historical examples of specific circumstances, not projections or commitments. Your results depend on factors we do not control — your effort, capital, market, timing, location and luck.
• Assumption of risk. You accept full responsibility and all risk for any action you take, and any loss you suffer, in connection with Content or the Platform, including business losses, regulatory penalties, tax liabilities, failed ventures and missed opportunities.
• Release. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you release the Company and its officers, directors, employees, agents, instructors, content partners, sponsors and ambassadors from any claim, demand or damages arising out of or connected with (a) your use of, or reliance on, any Content; (b) any decision, venture, filing, transaction or omission you make after using the Platform; and (c) any dealing or dispute between you and any other user, employer, sponsor, content partner or third party.

6. Exams, integrity & certificates

• Exams are timed, may limit the number of attempts and impose cooldown periods between them, and must be sat by you personally, without unauthorised help, impersonation, or copying, capturing or sharing of questions.
• To protect the credential, the Platform records integrity signals during exams (for example switching away from the exam window), may watermark exam screens with your identity, and — where enabled — may require re-authentication, device binding, fullscreen mode or webcam identity verification.
• We may withhold, suspend or revoke any certificate we reasonably believe was obtained through cheating, impersonation, question leakage or other dishonesty, and may suspend the account involved. Revocation updates the public verification record.
• Certificates are cryptographically signed and publicly verifiable. You may display and share your own certificate truthfully; you must not alter, forge, sell or misrepresent one.
• A certificate is our attestation that you passed our assessment. It is not a government qualification, professional licence, guarantee of competence, or promise of employment, and we make no representation to any third party who chooses to rely on it.

7. Content partners & partner courses

Some courses are created and published by vetted third-party content partners, not by M-Office Portal Limited. We review partners and courses before publication and may tier, edit metadata for, or unpublish partner content — but the partner, not the Company, is solely responsible for their content, including its accuracy, legality, originality and fitness. Publication is hosting, not endorsement. Your only remedies in respect of partner content are those in these Terms; to the maximum extent permitted by law we accept no liability for partner content.

If you are onboarded as a content partner, the separate partner agreements (Terms of Participation, Privacy Commitments and Content Standards) that you accept at activation apply in addition to these Terms and prevail over them for your partner activity. In summary, partners warrant they own or are licensed to publish what they upload, retain ownership while licensing us to host and deliver it, receive the revenue share shown on their partner record (net of refunds and processing fees, subject to identity/tax verification), must not contact or market to learners off-platform, and indemnify the Company against claims arising from their content or conduct.

8. Certified Talent Network & hiring

• Publishing a talent profile is optional. You warrant that what you publish is accurate and yours to share. Verified employers may view it and approach you through the Platform; your contact details stay private until you accept an approach.
• Employers and recruiters must use the network only for genuine hiring, contact candidates respectfully through the Platform, and must not scrape, resell, or use candidate data for any other purpose or contact candidates off-platform. Misuse may result in removal and forfeiture of fees.
• We are a venue, not an employment agency, recruiter or party to any hire. We do not vet the truth of candidate profiles or the conduct, solvency or legitimacy of employers, and we make no warranty about either. Any interview, offer, contract, employment relationship or dispute is strictly between candidate and employer; to the maximum extent permitted by law we have no liability for it, and each of you releases us from claims arising out of it.
• Talent scores, rankings, passports and similar signals are automated, informational aids only — not references, endorsements or assessments of suitability.

9. Sponsorships, scholarships & the Community Fund

• Certifications may be funded wholly or partly by others — an employer via a sponsor-to-hire scholarship, or any company, philanthropist, NGO, government body or individual via the Community Scholarship Fund. A funded seat earns the same exam and the same full-value certificate; the credential is the learner's to keep, and accepting a scholarship never obliges the learner to accept any job.
• For sponsors and donors: contributions fund training; they are gifts, not investments or purchases of any outcome. We decide, in good faith and at our discretion, how sponsored seats are awarded among vetted applicants. We do not guarantee that any learner will enrol, complete, certify, accept employment, or produce any particular impact. Contributions already applied to learners are non-refundable; impact receipts, sponsor-wall credits and Nation Builder recognition are informational courtesies, not tax advice or tax documents — consult your own adviser on deductibility.
• Employer sponsors receive only the first-look window described in the Privacy Policy; no exclusivity beyond what is stated at funding, and no guarantee any candidate will accept an approach.
• Where the Academy states that a portion of platform proceeds is directed to the Fund, the applicable policy is the one published on the site at the time; it is a voluntary programme we may amend or discontinue prospectively.

10. Ambassadors & the affiliate programme

If you join the Academy Ambassadors (affiliate) programme, the dedicated programme terms apply in addition to these Terms, including attribution, commission accrual, clearing and payout. Ambassadors and chapter leads are independent participants, not employees, agents or representatives of the Company; they have no authority to bind us or make promises on our behalf, and we are not responsible for statements they make beyond our published materials. Self-referral, spam, misleading promotion or incentivised fraud forfeits commissions and results in removal.

11. Teams, organisations & branded portals

An organisation that buys seats, sponsors staff, or operates a branded organisation portal is responsible for its administrators' actions and for having the right to enrol the people it enrols. Organisation administrators may see seat, progress and certification status for the seats their organisation funds, as described in the Privacy Policy. Branded portals display the organisation's name and marks at the organisation's request and responsibility; the organisation warrants it holds the rights to them and indemnifies us against related claims.

12. Community features, votes & user submissions

Where you submit anything to the Platform — reviews, ratings, demand votes, waitlist requests, messages, profile content, forum or chapter posts — you are responsible for it, you warrant it is lawful, accurate and yours to share, and you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, display and use it to operate and promote the Platform (reviews may be shown anonymised). Demand votes and waitlists are expressions of interest only — they create no obligation on us to build, price or schedule anything. We may moderate, edit for display, or remove submissions at our discretion.

13. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• copy, scrape, download in bulk, resell, redistribute or publicly post course content, exam questions, or any other Platform material;
• share accounts; misuse coupons, referrals, rewards, coins or promotions; or misrepresent certificates (yours or anyone's);
• circumvent or probe security, exam-integrity or proctoring measures; interfere with or overload the Platform; or access it by automated means except public verification pages;
• upload or transmit unlawful, infringing, deceptive or harmful content or malware;
• use the Platform to harass, defraud or spam anyone, or in violation of any applicable law.

We may investigate suspected breaches, preserve and disclose information where legally required, and suspend or terminate offending accounts (section 19).

14. Intellectual property

The Academy's own course content, exam material, question banks, brand, design and software are owned by M-Office Portal Limited or its licensors and protected by intellectual-property laws. Partner courses remain owned by their partners (or licensors), licensed to us to host and deliver. You receive only a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable licence to access the content you have enrolled in, for your own learning. No other right or licence is granted. The certificate you earn is yours to display; the underlying materials remain their owner's.

If you believe content on the Platform infringes your rights, email academy@m-office.example with the material's location, proof of your rights and your contact details; we investigate good-faith notices and may remove or disable content while we do.

15. Availability, changes & beta features

We work to keep the Academy available and accurate, but we do not promise uninterrupted or error-free operation. We may add, change, gate, suspend or discontinue any feature, course, programme, pricing model or the Platform itself, and may revise course content as products, laws and markets evolve. Features labelled beta, preview or pilot are provided with no commitments at all. Where we retire a paid course we will take reasonable steps to let affected learners complete it or receive a fair remedy. Links to third-party websites, tools, associations or resources are provided for convenience only — they are not endorsements, and we are not responsible for anything on or arising from them.

16. Disclaimer of warranties

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE PLATFORM AND ALL CONTENT, CERTIFICATES, SCORES, INTRODUCTIONS AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED — INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, TITLE, AND ANY WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT CONTENT IS CORRECT, CURRENT OR SUITABLE FOR YOUR SITUATION, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE PLATFORM IS FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED FROM US OR THROUGH THE PLATFORM, CREATES ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THESE TERMS.

17. Limitation of liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW:

• NEITHER THE COMPANY NOR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, LICENSORS, CONTENT PARTNERS OR SUPPLIERS IS LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, BUSINESS, GOODWILL, DATA OR OPPORTUNITY, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY (CONTRACT, TORT INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, STATUTE OR OTHERWISE), EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY;
• WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR: DECISIONS OR ACTIONS YOU TAKE IN RELIANCE ON CONTENT (SECTIONS 4–5); THIRD-PARTY CONTENT, INCLUDING PARTNER COURSES; THE CONDUCT OF ANY USER, EMPLOYER, SPONSOR, PARTNER OR AMBASSADOR; EMPLOYMENT OR BUSINESS OUTCOMES; PAYMENT PROVIDERS; OR EVENTS BEYOND OUR REASONABLE CONTROL (INCLUDING OUTAGES, CYBERATTACK, AND FORCE MAJEURE);
• OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE PLATFORM OR THESE TERMS IS LIMITED TO THE GREATER OF (A) THE AMOUNTS YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, AND (B) TWENTY THOUSAND NAIRA (₦20,000) OR ITS EQUIVALENT IN THE CURRENCY YOU PAID IN.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited — including liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence — or affects statutory consumer rights that cannot be waived. Where a jurisdiction does not allow a particular exclusion, that exclusion applies to the maximum extent it permits. Each provision of sections 4, 5, 16 and 17 is severable, and the parties acknowledge the pricing of the Platform reflects this allocation of risk.

18. Indemnification

To the maximum extent permitted by law, you will defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company and its officers, directors, employees and agents from and against any claim, demand, loss, liability, damage, penalty, cost and expense (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or related to: (a) your breach of these Terms or any warranty you give in them; (b) your content, submissions, profile or (for partners) courses; (c) your violation of any law or of any third party's rights; (d) your dealings with any other user, candidate, employer, sponsor or partner; (e) for organisations, the acts of your administrators and your use of your marks on the Platform; and (f) any tax authority claim connected with payments or receipts attributable to you. We may assume the exclusive defence of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification (at our expense), in which case you agree to cooperate.

19. Suspension & termination

You may close your account at any time. We may suspend or terminate your access (wholly or per-feature), withhold certificates pending integrity review, and forfeit promotional balances if you materially breach these Terms, create risk or legal exposure for us or other users, or where required by law. Sections 4–9, 12, 14 and 16–21 survive termination. Amounts properly paid are not refunded on termination for breach.

20. Governing law & dispute resolution — please read: arbitration & class-action waiver

• Governing law. These Terms and any dispute arising out of or in connection with them or the Platform (including non-contractual disputes) are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.
• Talk to us first. Before starting any proceeding you agree to email academy@m-office.example a written description of the dispute and give us thirty (30) days to resolve it informally. Most issues are fixed this way, faster and free.
• Binding arbitration. Any dispute not resolved informally shall be finally resolved by binding arbitration under the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023 (or any successor), by a sole arbitrator, seated in Lagos, Nigeria, conducted in English. Judgment on the award may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. Either party may instead bring an individual claim in a small-claims court of competent jurisdiction, and we may seek injunctive relief in court to protect intellectual property, exam integrity or platform security.
• Individual claims only. To the maximum extent permitted by law, disputes shall be brought only in an individual capacity — not as a plaintiff or member of any class, collective, consolidated or representative proceeding, and the arbitrator may not consolidate claims or preside over any form of representative proceeding.
• Time bar. To the maximum extent permitted by law, any claim must be commenced within twelve (12) months after the cause of action arises, or it is permanently barred.
• If the class-action waiver is found unenforceable as to a particular claim, that claim (and only that claim) shall proceed in the courts of Lagos, Nigeria, which shall have exclusive jurisdiction, and you and we each waive any objection to that venue.

21. General

• Changes to these Terms. We may revise these Terms; the "last updated" date above will change and, for material changes, we will take reasonable steps to notify you. Continued use after a change is acceptance. If you do not accept a change, stop using the Platform and close your account.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and any programme-specific terms you accept (partner agreements, ambassador terms, checkout terms) are the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Platform and supersede all prior understandings. In case of conflict, the programme-specific document governs that programme.
• Severability. If any provision is held unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remainder will remain in full force.
• Electronic notices. You consent to receive notices, disclosures and records electronically — by email to the address on your account or by posting on the Platform — and agree that they satisfy any requirement that a communication be in writing. Keep your email address current; a notice sent to the address on file is effective even if you no longer use it.
• No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.
• Assignment. You may not assign these Terms; we may assign them in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganisation or sale of assets.
• Force majeure. We are not liable for delay or failure caused by events beyond our reasonable control.
• No third-party beneficiaries, except that the released and indemnified persons named in sections 5, 17 and 18 may enforce those sections.
• Interpretation. "Including" means "including without limitation"; headings are for convenience only.