Airtel Africa Allocates $56.6 million To Support Digital Learning

Airtel Africa has partnered with UNICEF in a five-year plan to roll out digital learning in 13 Sub-Saharan countries including Kenya.

The telecommunication firm announced on Monday that it has committed $56.6 million to UNICEF’s Reimagine Education initiative. The Initiative, which was launched in 2020, seeks to provide equal access to quality digital learning among vulnerable kids by connecting schools to the Internet and ensuring free access to learning platforms.

Olusegun Ogunsanya, CEO of Airtel Africa, said the partnership will accelerate the results of the Reimagine Education Initiative. “We are excited to be working with UNICEF to advance the education agenda on the continent through facilitating connectivity and online access to play a role in driving change,” he said.

The partnership will also see Airtel Africa offer technology and expertise, provide crucial data insights to inform UNICEF’s work to scale-up digital learning and help ensure it is sustainable and meets students’ needs across Africa.

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said the five-year partnership with Airtel Africa would enable children in Africa whose education have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic to resume learning.

“Hundreds of millions of children in Africa have seen their education disrupted or put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. By championing digital education for children in Africa, this partnership with Airtel Africa will help put children’s learning back on track.”

Airtel Africa recently launched its long-term sustainability strategy, which lists the company’s plans to improve the lives of millions of people across Africa through digital and financial inclusion and access to education.

The telecoms firm sustainability strategy is based on six of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This includes quality education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, and responsible consumption and production.

The telecoms firm, which operates in 14 African markets recently reported a 131 per cent increase in its profit after tax in H1 period ended 30th September 2021 to stand at $335 million.

The company has its biggest market in Nigeria. In Kenya, it has tried unsuccessfully to dislodge Safaricom as the number one telco in the country.

According to data by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Safaricom held 64 per cent of the local market, more than double Airtel’s 27 per cent, as at the year ended June. Telkom holds 7 per cent of the market.

In a recent petition to parliament, Airtel blamed the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) for biased allocation of mobile spectrum to Safaricom and the failure to reduce the fees that mobile phone operators charge each other for interconnecting calls.