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Digital Divide
About 85% of the world’s population lives within 4G networks, and it’s estimated that nearly 50% of them are still offline or not connected due to the high cost of internet access and devices. Sub-Saharan Africa has the least affordability to devices perpetuating the gender digital divide. Despite awareness, primarily women and rural populations face digital illiteracy and access widening the digital divide in Africa. Limited access to reliable infrastructure for electricity, internet connectivity, and telecommunications networks hinders the adoption and use of digital technologies. This infrastructure, affordability and skills gap makes it difficult for
marginalized women and their communities to access information, educational resources, employment, healthcare services, social inclusion, and economic opportunities available online. al inclusion. Bridging the digital divide is crucial to unlocking Africas potential, fostering innovation, and promoting inclusive growth. SAEF is investing, through the Social Impact Fund, resources to uplift and support women residing in some of the poorest communities across Africa have access to digital devices, internet access, digital training and mobile for development (FINTECH).
Digital Access and Education for Teachers and Students
Another barrier to digital adoption in sub-Saharan Africa is literacy and digital skills.
Connectivity, particularly broadband internet access, is a game-changer in the digital age. Sadly, the effects are also felt within the elementary education sector where teachers and students alike face barriers to literacy and access to digital tools. SAE Foundation is investing in schools in marginalized communities to support teachers and students with access to digital tools such as internet access, laptops, computers and online literacy programs. This enhances a ground up approach to ensure education is the fundamental to closing the digital divide. Promoting digital
literacy within elementary schools promotes gender equality, access to quality education that is relevant to the needs of the modern world, equip young people with the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and values necessary to address complex challenges. It is our endeavour to work with global partners to provide financial, infrastructure and connectivity solutions to schools to ensure that teachers and students develop literacy skills and have access digital tools and the internet within their schools.
Agri Tech and Climate Adaptation
Agriculture is a fundamental instrument for development and poverty reduction in developing countries yet hundreds of millions of smallholders are not yet running successful farming enterprises. SAE Foundation, through the Social Impact Fund is dedicated to helping small holder farmers access and use digital services, agricultural technologies, climate change adaptation tools and links to markets with which they can improve their crop quality, production and livelihoods. The goal is to ensure food security for all, resilience of families and communities, and agricultural transformation that helps create enduring improvements in the incomes of rural populations.
Achievement of SDG 2 is critical as hunger and climate change effects on food security are on the rise. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 4 in 9 people living in semi and rural areas still go to bed hungry every night. Digital tools, access and innovation offers the means for farmers to take their rightful place at the forefront of sustainability, empowering them with the tools and knowledge to increase their efficiency, yields and incomes. The greatest advances in food security will come when investments in digital tools and access for farmers are designed from the ground up.
Our initiatives are geared toward improving digital access and innovation for a transformative
effect to:
- improving livelihoods
- improve farming practices through climate change adaptation techniques
- availability and affordability of quality food
- promote economic empowerment and access to credit and markets.
SAE Foundation is also investing in creation of E-HUBS for farmers. The hubs will be owned by rural entrepreneurs, agribusiness suppliers or farmers’ cooperatives. The hubs will provide a range of free and small fee-based services to farmers to help them increase their yields and incomes. Located close to farming communities and transport infrastructure, each hub will serve roughly 500 farmers per community linking them to 20 or more commercial buyers. A facilitation of 10 hubs per country will support at least twenty thousand farmers with a reach of over half a million people to feed. Investments will be made to facilitate farmers with mobile phones and internet access at the hubs (FINTECH). The hubs will permit the use of mobile payment solutions to enable on demand transaction management and access to liquid cash, trade (AfCFTA), market information and analytics via a simple mobile app and reporting dashboard. Users can enter transactional data, generate invoices, receive credit alerts, view cash flow reports and compare prices across hubs, as well as push market information and crop management advice to other farmers via SMS without needing the internet in areas where there is limited broadband access or infrastructure. Availability of mobile technology, apps, training and access for farmers will connect them with suppliers and buyers in a digital marketplace, providing a combination of credit, advisory and brokerage services. Farmers can also use their mobiles to purchase fertilizer and seeds from the nearest participating retailer using the mobile payment platform. Mobile apps can be tailored to use satellite data, send farmers tailored agronomic advice to help improve their yields, and to forecast production volumes and the sale of produce with buyers.
To Learn more about our Social Impact Fund and to Donate CLICK HERE