Mobile is an enabler for digital inclusion. It empowers people with new opportunities and life enhancing services. But the usage gap is still 40% which means that 3.2 billion people live in an area with mobile broadband coverage but are not using mobile internet.

To help address this important challenge, the GSMA Innovation Fund for Mobile Internet Adoption and Digital Inclusion was launched in April 2020 with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Deutsche Gesellschaft fȕr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, the GSMA and its members. The objective of the fund was to identify scalable solutions to address the key barriers of usability and accessibility, affordability, digital skills and safety and security that prevent many from connecting to mobile internet.

Through this fund, the GSMA is supporting 9 start-ups in 7 countries: Ensibuuko in Uganda, Africa 118 in Ethiopia, Zonful Energy in Zimbabwe, WidEnergy Africa in Zambia, Vceela, Orenda and Knowledge Platform in Pakistan, and Navana Tech in India. The work of these organisations has impacted over 1.2 million people, by bringing small businesses online, increasing access to digital learning platforms, and driving access to smartphones and relevant services.

This video features the start-ups that the GSMA Innovation Fund supports, the MNOs they’ve partnered with, and some of the end users of these incredible projects.