Airtel, Facebook partnership to narrow Nigeria’s digital divide

The partnership recently sealed by Airtel and Facebook is expected to narrow Nigeria’s digital divide and give room for content developers.

Tagged ‘Free Basics’ with this package, Nigerians with Airtel mobile connection can access all the services that are available through it without paying extra for data charges or rental.

Speaking at the launch, Director of Global Product Partnerships at Facebook, Ime Archibong, said: “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 do more, and we will continue to invest in technology and partnerships to help people realize the benefits of connectivity.”

Archibong continued: ‘We have 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.”

On the partnership, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Africa, Christian de Faria, said: “We are pleased to take this big step forward in our partnership with Facebook, to bring more people online in Africa’s most populous country and further narrow the digital divide.”