03 November 2021 | Melanie Mingas
Airtel Africa and UNICEF have signed a five-year “multi-million greenback” partnership to scale-up digital studying for kids throughout 13 African international locations.
It is a part of the worldwide Reimagine Schooling initiative launched by UNICEF final yr to generate private and non-private sector funding in digital studying and assist kids catch up amid the pandemic.
Airtel Africa is the primary African personal sector accomplice to make a multimillion-dollar dedication to the initiative. It is going to profit kids in Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
“As a enterprise, we have now centered on schooling as a key space of our company social duty, and we’re delighted that this partnership with UNICEF will allow us to speed up outcomes. It additionally coincides with the launch of our new sustainability technique, which lays out our dedication to schooling,” stated Olusegun Ogunsanya (pictured), CEO of Airtel Africa.
“We’re excited to be working with UNICEF to advance the schooling agenda on the continent by means of facilitating connectivity and on-line entry to play a job in driving change,” he added.
Airtel’s monetary and in-kind contribution to the partnership is valued at $57 million over 5 years.
The programme will name on expertise and experience, along with direct monetary assist to attach colleges and communities to the web, allow free entry to on-line academic content material for learners. It is going to additionally present very important knowledge insights to tell UNICEF’s work to scale-up digital studying and assist guarantee it’s sustainable and meets college students’ wants throughout Africa.
“A whole bunch of thousands and thousands of youngsters in Africa have seen their schooling disrupted or placed on maintain due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” stated UNICEF Govt Director Henrietta Fore. “By championing digital schooling for kids in Africa, this partnership with Airtel Africa will assist put kids’s studying again on monitor.”