The year marked the Foundation’s first full cycle of scaled delivery, with a strong emphasis on consolidating operations and expanding impact-driven programmes.
The Airtel Africa Foundation has published its Annual Report for the 2025/2026 financial year, highlighting a period of scaled operations, programme expansion, and strengthened performance across its 14 markets. During the reporting period, which ran from April 2025 to March 2026, the Foundation committed a total of $6.2 million toward key development initiatives aligned with its mission to drive inclusive growth through financial inclusion, education, environmental sustainability, and digital inclusion.
The year marked the Foundation’s first full cycle of scaled delivery, with a strong emphasis on consolidating operations and expanding impact-driven programmes. Education remained the largest focus area, supported by major investments in digital connectivity, learning access, and school infrastructure development across Africa.
In education, the Foundation significantly expanded digital access in schools. Through its partnership with UNICEF, 1,028 additional schools were connected to the internet during the year, bringing the total number of connected schools to 3,296. These initiatives now support over 2 million learners and nearly 39,000 teachers across the region. In addition, 64 zero-rated digital learning platforms were deployed, enabling more than 11 million users to access educational content without data costs.
The Foundation also advanced its school infrastructure and learning environment programmes. Seven schools were fully renovated during the reporting period, while 43 additional schools are currently undergoing upgrades. These efforts are part of a broader school adoption initiative aimed at improving educational outcomes through better facilities and digital access.
In the area of skills development, the Airtel Africa Tech Fellowship awarded 257 full scholarships to support emerging talent. Alongside this, more than 30,500 young people and women were trained through various digital skills programmes, reinforcing the Foundation’s commitment to building digital capabilities across underserved communities.
Financial inclusion initiatives also recorded progress, reaching 2,450 participants. Of these, 510 beneficiaries received support to start small businesses, helping to strengthen entrepreneurship and economic participation at the grassroots level. Environmental sustainability efforts were also integrated into selected programmes, linking community development with conservation-focused initiatives.
The report also highlighted strong collaboration with international and national partners, particularly UNICEF. Key outcomes from this partnership included policy advancements across several countries: Zambia adopted an Education Sector Digitalization Strategy for 2025–2026, Gabon enacted legislation embedding digital education into its national framework, the Republic of the Congo developed a Digital Pedagogy Roadmap, and Uganda advanced its Digital Education Standards and Guidelines.
Looking ahead to the 2026/2027 financial year, the Airtel Africa Foundation plans to further scale its impact. Targets include expanding school adoption programmes to over 85 schools, increasing Tech Fellowship scholarships to more than 600, supporting connectivity in over 5,000 schools, enabling 70+ digital communities, assisting 3,500 entrepreneurs through financial inclusion programmes, and extending sustainability initiatives across five operating countries.
