Airtel Africa, a telecommunications services provider with a presence in 14 countries in Africa, in partnership with UNICEF, is set to roll out a digital learning initiative in Nigeria that will connect 100,000 children to the Learning Passport, an online resource, over the next five years. With over 50 million subscribers, Nigeria is Airtel Africa’s biggest market.
Airtel Africa’s Group CEO, Segun Ogunsanya, in a statement released on Wednesday, disclosed that 100 schools will be connected annually in the country as part of the five-year, US$57 million partnership with UNICEF, signed in October 2021.
The partnership aims to provide access to education to at least one million disadvantaged children, mostly in rural and hard-to-reach communities across 13 of its 14 country operations in Africa.
What they are saying
- Ogunsanya, in the statement, explained that Airtel Africa’s support for the initiative was informed by a sense of responsibility for, and commitment to, the future of the continent.
- “This partnership is designed to provide zero-rated access for both students and teachers to educational websites and other resources. This, on the one hand, will bridge the digital divide between the rich and poor, and; on the other hand, it will enable African children to catch up with the rest of the world after the disruptions caused by Covid-19. We firmly believe that children are the future and education is the best guarantee for ensuring that this future is in safe and knowledgeable hands,” he said.
- According to Dr. Ogunsanya, in addition to the UNICEF partnership, Airtel Africa is also working on modalities for adopting primary schools in Nigeria and other African countries. This will entail rehabilitating their infrastructure, providing furniture, school uniforms, books, and other teaching and learning materials, and also training the teachers besides connecting the schools to its 4G network.