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Helios and UNICEF aim to enhance digital learning access in Africa

Helios and UNICEF aim to enhance digital learning access in Africa

Helios Towers, a telecommunications infrastructure company, and child rights organisation UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) have announced a multi-year partnership to expand internet connectivity and digital learning access for children and young people across Africa.

The partnership supports two flagship UNICEF initiatives: Giga, a partnership between UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union working to connect every school in the world to the internet by 2030, and Learning Passport, which provides localised, high-quality digital learning and skills for children, young people and teachers to continue learning anywhere, at any time, both online and offline.

The partnership will combine Helios Towers’ telecommunications infrastructure expertise with UNICEF’s global leadership in digital inclusion to help connect schools and expand access to quality education in underserved communities.

Through the collaboration, Helios Towers, which operates in nine markets across Africa and in Oman, will support efforts to advance school connectivity mapping and infrastructure development through Giga. The company will also support expanded access to Learning Passport.

The partnership will initially focus on the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Tanzania, with additional support planned for another, as yet unnamed, country in West Africa, where Helios Towers’ established in-market presence and engineering capability will help extend connectivity to communities where access remains limited. Indeed, Helios Towers’ investment strategy focuses on underserved and high-growth markets, supporting connectivity infrastructure where need and potential impact are greatest.

As the partners explain, Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population. Expanding reliable internet connectivity for schools is critical to ensuring children and young people can access education, develop digital skills and participate fully in future economies.



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