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L-R, Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya; Global Director Product
Partnerships, Ime Archibong with Global Director Operator Partnerships, Markku
Makelainen, both of Facebook, during the launch of Free Basic Services by
Airtel in partnership with Facebook held at Victoria Island, Lagos on Tuesday.
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Bharti Airtel Africa, a leading telecommunications service
provider with operations in 17 countries across Africa, today announced that it
has launched Free Basics in Nigeria in partnership with Facebook.
Nigerians with an Airtel mobile connection will be able to
access all the services that are available through Free Basics without paying
extra for data charges or rental.
Free Basics provides basic mobile websites and services for
free to people around the world and demonstrating the value the internet can
provide.
Free Basics will launch in Nigeria with more than 85 free
services dedicated to health, education, jobs, and finance. To date, Facebook estimates that its
connectivity efforts, which include Free Basics, have brought more than 25
million people online who would not be otherwise.
Airtel Africa will also be offering Facebook Flex in Nigeria,
which allows people to access a version of Facebook without data charges. This
initiative is part of Facebook’s commitment to bringing people online and
reducing affordability barriers.
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L-R, CEO Airtel Segun Ogunsanya; Head
of Policy for Facebook in Africa, Ebele Okobi; Global Director Product
Partnerships, Facebook, Ime Archibong and Global Director Operator Partnerships,
Markku Makelainen, also of Facebook, at the launch of Free Basic Services by
Airtel Nigeria in partnership with Facebook, held at Victoria Island, Lagos on
Tuesday.
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Christian de Faria, MD and CEO of Airtel Africa said, “We’re
pleased to take this big step forward in our partnership with Facebook,
bringing more people online in Africa’s most populous country and helping to
further narrow the digital divide. This builds on our vision of using our
widespread 3G network to help improve lives and communities by empowering them
with access to digital content and services that are tailored to their needs.”
Segun Ogunsanya, Managing Director and Chief Executive
Officer of Airtel Nigeria commented: “Today marks a significant milestone in
our nation’s drive towards deepening digital connectivity and enhancing mobile
broadband access for millions of Nigerians in line with the key objective of
Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan (NBBP). It is our belief that this
partnership, the first of its kind in Nigeria, will create a plethora of
opportunities for millions of Nigerians, empowering them to connect to their
dreams, realize their full potentials, and succeed in their professional and
personal endeavours.”
Airtel Africa has worked with Facebook since 2014 in
enhancing accessibility to the internet in an affordable manner through the
launch of Free Basics in Zambia, Kenya, Malawi, Ghana, Seychelles and Rwanda.
With the launch of Free Basics in Nigeria, millions more people will have the
ability to access basic services.
Chris Daniels, Vice President of Internet.org at Facebook,
said: “Bharti Airtel Africa has been an important partner in bringing
connectivity and access to people across Africa. Our partnership has played a
key role in helping bring digital content and services to people and
communities in growing countries.”
Ime Archibong, Director of Global Product Partnerships at
Facebook, added: “We’ve spent time with the developer community here in Nigeria
to understand how we can help people here build and create for their
communities, and by bringing Free Basics to Nigeria we hope to provide another
platform for developers to bring relevant services to people free of charge. At
launch, we have more than 85 services included in Free Basics and hope to spur
more development to bring relevant, basic services to
Nigerians.”
Archibong continued: “We believe that local entrepreneurs and
developers will be the ones to meet the needs of their immediate community, and
we are working with developers to know how we can support them in doing so.
Together, Facebook and the developer, entrepreneur and non-profit communities
in Africa can still do so much more, and we will continue to invest in
technology and partnerships to help people realize the benefits of
connectivity.”
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