Unicef, Bharti Airtel sign agreement to expand partnership across 17 African countries

Leading telecommunication service provider Bharti Airtel has signed a partnership agreement with UNICEF to expand their collaboration across 17 countries in Africa, www.sierraexpressmedia.com reported.

Under the existing agreement, the telco provides services in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. The expanded partnership seeks to improve African population's access to health and education-related information even as it pushed forward various innovative projects supported by UNICEF.

Under the agreement, UNICEF can tap into Airtel's mobile services to make health, education and youth-focused content available to Airtel customers across the 17 African countries. More Africans would have free access to mobile applications and services developed by UNICEF, such as eduTrac, mTrac and U-report with improved connectivity.

Christian de Faria, chief executive officer of Airtel Africa, said the company was committed to providing innovative solutions that overcame access and quality challenges around the delivery of services. UNICEF's partnership with Bharti Airtel provided an opportunity to deploy mHealth innovations that could support healthcare systems and provide helpful education-related information, he added.

The partnership extends across 17 countries in Africa - in Eastern and Southern Africa: Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia; and in West and Central Africa: Burkina Faso, Chad, DRC, Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

Meanwhile, PTI reported that Bharti Airtel had launched its first pan-Africa customised 3G Smartphone for $53 to tap mobile internet users. "At Airtel, we are focused on migrating, existing and new customers from the traditional feature phones to Android smart phones to take advantage of Airtel's 3G networks. We anticipate high uptake levels within the first six months of operations," de Faria said in a statement.

The Android KitKat platform based phone features a memory of 4GB of storage capacity ROM, 512MB of RAM with 32 GB external memory capacity, a 1300mAh battery life, 3MP front and rear camera and comes equipped with a Qualcomm dual core central processing unit. The device would sell for $53 subject to various government levies and would be available at local retail outlets, the statement added.

It was available in Seychelles, Uganda and Burkina Faso markets with 14 other Airtel operating countries expected to launch the mobile devices over the next few weeks.

According to de Faria, special attention was given to the device layout and the user interface to provide quick and simple access to services like Airtel mobile money and popular social media applications to customers.