Telecommunications facilities company Helios Towers has actually partnered with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in a multi-year effort targeted at broadening web connectivity and access to digital learning for children and youths across Africa.
The collaboration, revealed on Monday, will support two flagship UNICEF efforts: Giga, which works to link schools to the web, and the Learning Passport, a digital learning platform developed to provide kids and young people with access to educational content both online and offline.
The cooperation will combine Helios Towers’ telecommunications infrastructure and engineering knowledge with UNICEF’s experience in digital inclusion and education, with the goal of assisting underserved neighborhoods access dependable connection and learning chances.
The initiative will initially concentrate on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi and Tanzania, with extra support prepared for another nation in West Africa. The business said Helios Towers’ recognized existence and technical capabilities in these markets would assist extend connectivity to neighborhoods where access stays limited.
Connecting schools to the web
A central component of the partnership is assistance for Giga, a joint initiative of UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that intends to link every school in the world to the web by 2030.
Through Giga, the partners will support efforts to map school connectivity and advance facilities development, assisting federal governments recognize schools without reputable internet gain access to and check out services for linking them.
School connectivity mapping is meant to supply a clearer photo of where infrastructure is available, where spaces continue and what financial investments may be required to bring schools online.
For neighborhoods with limited digital infrastructure, dependable internet access can produce chances for students and teachers to utilize digital knowing resources, gain access to information and take part in technology-enabled education.
Giga’s more comprehensive method includes real-time school connection mapping, technical guidance, innovative funding models and assistance for federal governments in obtaining connection solutions.
Knowing Passport to expand access to digital education
The 2nd pillar of the collaboration is the Knowing Passport, a UNICEF digital education platform that supplies kids, youths and instructors with access to educational material and skills development resources.
The platform is designed to support learning continuity by enabling users to access instructional products throughout different settings, including areas affected by emergency situations and interruptions to traditional education.
It offers versatile knowing opportunities through both online and offline access, permitting learners to continue their education even where internet connection is inconsistent or unavailable.
The platform also supports teacher development and is adaptable to local education systems, curricula and languages. Its portability is planned to make learning resources available beyond the standard class, consisting of in underserved and crisis-affected communities.
Under the brand-new collaboration, Helios Towers will support efforts to broaden access to the Learning Passport, matching the infrastructure work planned through Giga.
Africa’s digital divide remains an obstacle for education
The collaboration comes as African countries deal with the challenge of broadening access to quality education while addressing gaps in digital infrastructure, cost and access to innovation.
Although web connection can expand access to instructional resources, many schools and communities continue to face barriers that restrict their ability to benefit from digital learning.
These barriers consist of undependable electrical energy, limited broadband facilities, the cost of internet access and digital devices, and gaps in digital literacy among learners and instructors.
For rural and underserved neighborhoods, the lack of dependable connection can restrict access to digital instructional material, online instructor training and other technology-enabled learning chances.
The partnership’s concentrate on school connectivity and digital learning reflects the growing value of integrating facilities investment with education shipment to ensure that digital tools can support mentor and knowing.
Helios Towers said Africa’s young and rapidly growing population makes connectivity an important factor in expanding access to education, establishing digital skills and making it possible for participation in future economies.
What the partnership implies for African education
The partnership combines 2 complementary locations of intervention: the physical infrastructure required to link schools and the digital knowing resources that can be accessed through that connectivity.
For education systems, the combined technique could help deal with a longstanding obstacle in digital education: ensuring that schools have both the connectivity and the learning resources needed to utilize technology meaningfully.
The Giga component is expected to support the recognition of connectivity gaps and the advancement of facilities solutions, while the Knowing Passport component is planned to supply access to digital academic content.
The preliminary concentrate on the DRC, Malawi and Tanzania positions the partnership in markets where Helios Towers has an established functional existence. The scheduled expansion into an additional West African country could extend the initiative’s reach to another part of the continent.
Nevertheless, the statement does not define the variety of schools expected to be linked, the variety of kids targeted, the monetary worth of the collaboration or a detailed implementation timeline.
The level to which the initiative will enhance access to discovering will depend upon how connection facilities, digital platforms and local education systems are integrated and sustained with time.
Helios Towers and UNICEF on the partnership
Discussing the collaboration, Tom Greenwood, Ceo of Helios Towers, stated connection was a crucial enabler of education, social inclusion and long-lasting economic development.
He said the company’s experience operating telecoms facilities throughout Africa and the Middle East had offered it direct insight into the role trustworthy connectivity could play in neighborhoods.
Greenwood added that the partnership reflected the company’s dedication to expanding digital addition and assisting connect youths to learning, abilities and opportunities.
Philip Goodwin, President of UNICEF UK, said digital connection was significantly vital to finding out and opportunity.
He said the partnership would assist attend to barriers to education and support group that enable kids to find out and establish, especially in underserved neighborhoods.
Goodwin also revealed appreciation for Helios Towers’ dedication to expanding connectivity in areas where the need was greatest.
About Helios Towers
Helios Towers is an independent telecommunications infrastructure business that builds, owns and operates mobile telecommunications facilities across Africa and the Middle East.
The company runs in nine African markets and Oman, providing facilities that supports mobile network operators and the growth of connectivity.
Its infrastructure-sharing model allows numerous mobile network operators to use shared tower infrastructure, assisting support the growth of telecommunications services.
The company’s operations and engineering capabilities are expected to contribute to the connectivity element of the UNICEF collaboration.
About UNICEF’s digital learning initiatives
UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to advance kids’s rights and health and wellbeing, consisting of through education, health, security and digital inclusion.
Through Giga, UNICEF and the ITU work with governments to map school connection and assistance efforts to link schools to the internet by 2030.
The Knowing Passport provides digital learning resources for kids, young people and teachers, with a concentrate on flexible gain access to, localized content and continuity of knowing.
Together, the 2 initiatives deal with different however associated measurements of digital education: access to connectivity and access to learning resources.
Secret facts about the collaboration
| Partners | Helios Towers and UNICEF |
| Period | Multi-year partnership |
| Core initiatives | Giga and Knowing Passport |
| Initial countries | DR Congo, Malawi and Tanzania |
| Planned expansion | One extra nation in West Africa |
| Giga target | Link every school in the world to the internet by 2030 |
| Funding and reach | Monetary worth and recipient targets not revealed in the announcement |
Source: Helios Towers and UNICEF collaboration announcement, September 28, 2026.
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