Telecom
Airtel, UNICEF Commend Lagos School on Impressive Use of Nigeria Learning Passport
Sunil Taldar, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, has described as remarkable the progress recorded by St Agnes Primary School, Maryland Lagos with the use of the Nigeria Learning Passport as part of the Reimagine Education Programme introduced by Airtel and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2022.
Mr Taldar made this declaration while on a joint visit with the leadership of UNICEF and Airtel Nigeria. The delegation, which included the Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh; UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere; and other senior executives from Airtel and UNICEF, engaged with school administrators, teachers, and pupils to assess the progress recorded under the Reimagine Education Programme.
This visit marks another significant step in Airtel’s long-standing collaboration with UNICEF to drive inclusive and technology-driven education, ensuring that more Nigerian children have access to quality learning resources.
Through the collaboration, Airtel has reported that over 1,200 schools have been equipped with tablets and data to connect teachers and learners to digital learning platforms.
Speaking with the media after a demonstration of NLP and digital learning devices, Mr Taldar said, “What I saw today at St Agnes Primary School was impressive and we are encouraged by the impact made for students and teachers through our partnership with UNICEF,” adding that “our partnership with UNICEF is one of the ways we are ensuring that more children in Nigeria and beyond have access to digital learning tools that will equip them for their future. This visit reaffirms our dedication to making education more inclusive, accessible, and impactful.”
Also commenting on the company`s commitment to digital education and bridging the digital divide for Nigerian children, the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh, highlighted the importance of technology-driven learning, the impact of Airtel’s partnership with UNICEF, and the role of the Nigeria Learning Passport in providing students and teachers with essential digital learning tools.
“At Airtel Nigeria, we are deeply committed to empowering young minds through technology-driven education. Our visit to St. Agnes Primary School underscores our dedication to bridging the digital divide and ensuring that more Nigerian children have access to quality learning resources.
Through our partnership with UNICEF, we continue to invest in initiatives like the Nigeria Learning Passport, which provides students and teachers with the tools they need to succeed in a rapidly evolving digital world.”
On her part, UNICEF Chief of Lagos Field Office, Celine Lafoucriere, emphasised the importance of collaborative efforts to reimagine education.
“Education is a fundamental right, and digital learning has become a key enabler in bridging educational gaps. Our partnership with Airtel Africa and Airtel Nigeria continues to provide innovative learning solutions, ensuring that every child, regardless of location or socio-economic status, has the opportunity to learn and thrive.
We are excited about the ongoing implementation of the Nigeria Learning Passport and the transformation it brings to education in Nigeria,” she said.
Recall that in 2023, Airtel and UNICEF paid a similar visit to Oremeji Primary School Ajegunle Lagos, one of Airtel Nigeria’s seven adopted schools.
This visit to St. Agnes Primary School reflects a broader engagement with schools benefiting from the Nigeria Learning Passport (NLP) – a digital education platform developed by UNICEF in partnership with the Nigerian government and Microsoft.
The NLP is designed to provide accessible, high-quality educational content to students, teachers, and parents, supporting learning both in and outside the classroom.
Airtel’s collaboration with UNICEF aligns with its broader corporate social responsibility (CSR) agenda to support education, digital inclusion, and sustainable development.
The Nigeria Learning Passport continues to gain traction as a powerful tool in ensuring that children, including those in remote and underserved areas, have access to interactive, high-quality educational content.
At Airtel Africa, we believe that education is the cornerstone of progress, and we remain committed to leveraging technology to drive sustainable learning solutions across the continent.
Clean and reliable power for telecom networks in Ethiopia, Liberia, and Sierra Leone will be expanded following a $45 million investment by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in IPT PowerTech.
The investment targets countries where limited power supply continues to slow digital connectivity and broader economic participation, the institution stated earlier this week.
To enable this expansion, the IFC is providing a $45 million corporate financing package consisting of an A-loan of $27 million and $18 million in blended finance.
The blended portion is sourced from the Canada-IFC Blended Climate Finance Programme and the IDA20 Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility.
The initiative marks the IFC’s first direct infrastructure engagement in Liberia in a decade and in Sierra Leone in six years.
It will help scale solar- and battery-based power systems that reduce reliance on diesel and support greener, more resilient telecom networks.
By improving the quality and stability of power to telecom towers, the initiative will strengthen mobile coverage and ensure that households, schools, health centres, and small businesses can depend on consistent digital services, said the IFC.
The funding supports the modernisation, operation, and maintenance of 2 235 telecom sites across the three nations. More than 90% of these are located in off-grid or weak-grid locations.
With new solar and battery systems powering these sites, mobile networks will experience fewer outages and improved service quality.
Optimising the energy mix is estimated to reduce power costs for operators by up to 30% in Liberia, 26% in Sierra Leone, and 52% in Ethiopia.
This transition is also expected to cut emissions by more than 10 624 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Furthermore, the partnership will promote gender inclusion by expanding opportunities for women in technical, operational, and leadership roles within the sector, says the IFC.
This agreement reflects a shared vision for a greener telecom industry and empowers the company to scale its innovative energy platforms, according to Nabil Haddad, CEO of IPT PowerTech Group.
Reliable and affordable power for telecom networks is a cornerstone of Africa’s digital transformation, said Nathalie Kouassi-Akon, IFC regional director for West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.
Through this partnership, the institution is supporting a scalable, private sector-led solution that enables mobile operators to reach underserved and fragile communities more sustainably, added Kouassi-Akon.
The project advances the World Bank Group and African Development Bank’s Mission 300 initiative, which aims to provide electricity to 300 million Africans by 2030.
Expedier has unveiled “Expedier for Business,” an online pro-banking platform to simplify global payments, multi-currency transactions, and financial operations for expanding companies.
Kingsley Madu
The tool centralizes payments, invoicing, payroll, and treasury into one secure dashboard, tackling challenges like fragmented systems and poor visibility that hinder international scaling.
Kingsley Madu, Co-Founder and CEO of Expedier, said: “African businesses are increasingly global… Expedier for Business was built to simplify how companies manage money across borders while maintaining visibility, control, and compliance.”
Key features include customizable dashboards for payments, invoices, and workflows; support for USD, CAD, GBP, EUR, and more; virtual cards; automated payroll/invoicing; currency swaps; and real-time tracking.
Security measures cover two-factor authentication, KYC/KYB verification, and team access controls.
As cross-border trade and remote work boom in Africa, the platform aids firms dealing with international suppliers, teams, and customers. It is now available for organizations scaling globally.
Nigerian fintech unicorn Moniepoint Inc. has finalised its acquisition of a 78% stake in Kenya’s Sumac Microfinance Bank, gaining a key deposit-taking licence for credit expansion in East Africa’s biggest economy.
The deal, marked by a Nairobi reception, bypasses the Central Bank of Kenya’s licence freeze, letting Moniepoint rival giants like Safaricom and Equity Group after a stalled Kopo Kopo bid.
It signals Africa’s fintech shift to licensed banking and mergers, equipping Moniepoint to roll out high-speed SME lending via Sumac’s 20-year-old infrastructure and branches.
The acquisition builds a cross-border merchant ecosystem beyond fees, integrating recent Orda buyout (cloud restaurant software) for “business-in-a-box” tools like inventory, payroll, and capital amid Kenya’s digital lending scrutiny.
Moniepoint, which hit $294 billion annualised transactions in 2025, eyes Kenya’s SMEs with Nigeria-honed retail expertise.
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