Smart Africa, an alliance of African countries, international organisations, and global private sector players tasked with advancing Africa’s digital agenda, last week signed a potentially significant agreement with KaiOS Technologies, whose mobile platform is said to make the internet accessible to all.
As part of this collaboration, KaiOS and Smart Africa say they will leverage their combined expertise, resources and networks to advance digital inclusion. This partnership, we are told, aims to ensure that previously unconnected citizens gain access to essential digital services such as messaging, news, entertainment, and education through affordable and reliable KaiOS-powered smart featurephones with internet access.
The partnership also aims to empower businesses by distributing affordable merchant payment terminals leveraging KaiOS smart featurephone technologies, thereby enabling underserved merchants to accept digital payments and manage their businesses efficiently.
Additionally, the partners say they will collaborate with governments to provide guidance to member states, working with existing digital inclusion programmes to accelerate current initiatives. This effort will involve engaging with local communities and stakeholders to tailor solutions to specific needs.
In particular there will be a focus on providing mainstream social media apps, educational resources, training programmes and connected agricultural support to farmers who will gain access to crucial agricultural information such as weather forecasts, pest and disease management and market prices. This should enable them to make informed decisions, leading to better crop yields and profitability.
Dale Strydom, Business Development Director MEA of KaiOS, explains: “We are excited about this partnership as this aims to reduce the digital divide by providing internet-enabled smart featurephones, addressing 2G to 4G migration challenges, and offering access to social, educational, agricultural, and mobile money [services].”