Telecom
ITU, UNESCO Advocate Mobile Technology for Equitable, Better Quality Education
A joint ITU/UNESCO Policy Forum on mobile learning brought together for the first time Ministers of Education and Ministers of Information & Communication Technology (ICT) to examine the role that policies and cross-sectoral collaboration can play in fostering innovation and the use of mobile technology to improve the quality, equity and accessibility of education.
Held under the framework of ITU’s m-Powering Development Initiative, the Forum was a highlight of this year’s UNESCO Mobile Learning Week (MLW), which had the theme “Innovating for Quality”.
The event featured a Ministerial High-Level Roundtable which looked at how increasingly affordable digital devices can help address urgent educational challenges and meet the needs of students, teachers and administrators. Ministers also explored ways to create synergies between national policies in the areas of technology, education, telecommunication and innovation.
During the Forum, participants from Latin America discussed how m-learning was being used in the region to address key education issues such as literacy, access and retention.
An interactive dialogue between public and private sector stakeholders was also held examining how to establish strong public private partnerships for infrastructure provision, technical support and learning resources development.
“ICTs will go a long way towards achieving inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all, as envisioned by the Sustainable Development Goals,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao.
“The growing power, affordability and ubiquity of mobile technology offers an unprecedented opportunity for governments to make great strides in lowering the barriers to education and connecting teachers and students to a wealth of resources via mobile devices.”
“Meeting the full promise of mobile learning calls for supporting innovation and scaling up what works,” said UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.
“To succeed calls for comprehensive mobile learning policies and a shared political framework encompassing access, equity and teacher training. By drawing a bridge between telecommunications and education stakeholders, this Forum provides a unique platform to build partnerships that foster mobile learning environments that work for all.”
“This Policy Forum marks the start of an important collaborative effort between the education and ICT sectors to design policies that will build comprehensive and sustainable strategies for the digital learning revolution,” said Brahima Sanou, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau.
“Using ICTs and mobile devices for learning is about empowerment. It is about empowering teachers with extremely rich resources for improving their teaching methods and allowing students to take a more active role in their own education both inside and outside the classroom,” he added.
The MLW Forum comes just ahead of the 13th full meeting of the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development in Dubai, UAE, which will look closely at the role of broadband in education, among other issues.
The meeting is being hosted by Commissioner Sunny Varkey alongside the annual Global Education & Skills Forum.
ITU’s m-Powering Development Initiative is designed to give advice and share recommendations on how to deploy ICT services, from m-Health, m-Learning and m-Governance to m-Commerce and m-Sport.
UNESCO Mobile Learning Week is an annual event which brings together experts from around the world to share how affordable and powerful mobile technology – from basic handsets to the newest tablet computers – can accelerate learning for all, particularly people living in disadvantaged communities.
In the wake of increasing geopolitical tension, Cassava Technologies has unveiled its National Sovereign Cloud offering for African governments.
The solution, the company claims, will help the continent’s governments ensure data is kept on infrastructure that remains under local legal and operational jurisdiction.
According to the official announcement, made yesterday, the solution provides “secure, locally-governed digital infrastructure that enables the deployment of AI-enabled public services”.
The overarching solution encompasses cloud, cyber security, AI computing infrastructure, as well as local language AI models and skills support for governments.
The announcement comes amid increasing uncertainty over the hosting of sensitive national data on cloud services operated by foreign hyperscalers, which are subject to legal frameworks, such as the U.S. CLOUD Act. The CLOUD Act opens the door to allow American authorities to access data stored on the servers of US hyperscalers, wherever those servers are physically located.
Cassava has claimed separately that currently, “approximately 33% to 45% of the world’s data is hosted in the USA”.
The company added: “A sovereign cloud reduces exposure to extraterritorial laws, improves cyber resilience, and ensures that model weights and training data for public AI remain under national custody.”
The Africa Data Centres Association’s 2026 Economic Report states that “data sovereignty has evolved from a legal aspiration into a strategic policy lever”.
Ahmed El Beheiry, Group COO and Group Chief Technology and AI Officer, Cassava Technologies said: “Across Africa, governments are accelerating their digital transformation agendas and are increasingly focused on ensuring that data and digital infrastructure remain secure and sovereign.”
Announced at the Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona, this week, the Sovereign Cloud offering launch accompanied the launch of Cassava’s Cloud Partner programme.
The partner programme targets mobile network operators and system integrators across Africa to resell and distribute AI, cloud, and other digital services using Cassava’s infrastructure and technology platforms.
El Beheiry added: “We are expanding Africa’s sovereign AI ecosystem to build solutions that address the continent’s unique challenges while creating new opportunities for growth and digital inclusion.”
The programme offers partners access to NVIDIA Cloud Partner solutions, Cassava’s AI Factory, its own native AI solutions and its AI Multi-Model Exchange, which supports both Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini models.
Mazen Mroue, a non-executive director at MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, has resigned effective February 27, 2026, to prioritise other responsibilities within the MTN Group, the company announced in a Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) filing.
MTN Nigeria
The notice, signed by company secretary Uto Ukpanah, stated: “This is to enable Mr. Mroue to focus on other priorities within MTN Group Limited. The Board wishes to express its appreciation to Mr. Mroue for his immense service to MTN Nigeria and wishes him success in his future endeavours.”
Mroue joined MTN Nigeria’s board on June 1, 2022, bringing over 28 years of telecom experience. A veteran MTN executive, he previously served as CEO of MTN Uganda and MTN Liberia, non-executive director at MTN Cyprus, and held leadership roles at MTN Ghana.
Since February 2022, he has been MTN Group’s Chief Technology and Information Officer, overseeing technology strategy and governance. Earlier, as MTN Nigeria’s COO from August 2018 to January 2022, he also sat on the MTN Nigeria Foundation board.
The exit follows MTN Nigeria’s stellar 2025 results, posting a ₦1.70 trillion profit before tax—reversing a ₦550.3 billion loss in 2024 driven by forex woes—marking one of the telco’s strongest rebounds.
Google has rolled out support for Yorùbá and Hausa languages in its AI-powered Search features—AI Overviews and AI Mode—enabling millions of Nigerians to get quick answers, summaries, and conversational web exploration in their mother tongues.
The update forms part of Google’s push to cover 13 African languages, including Afrikaans, Akan, Amharic, Kinyarwanda, Afaan Oromoo, Somali, Sesotho, Kiswahili, Setswana, Wolof, and isiZulu, selected based on high search activity across the continent.
Now, a Kano student can ask complex questions in Hausa, while an Ibadan trader seeks business tips in Yorùbá—both receiving culturally nuanced AI responses via text or voice on Android, iOS, or web.
Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s West Africa Communications Manager, said: “Building truly global Search requires nuanced local understanding. With Gemini-powered AI, we’ve made advanced capabilities relevant in Yorùbá and Hausa, so Nigerians converse naturally with Search in their mother tongues.”
To use: Open the Google app, tap AI Mode, and query in Hausa or Yorùbá for personalised guidance—breaking language barriers and making technology reflect Nigeria’s diverse identity.
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