Connectivity is one of the first things people ask for when crossing a border seeking safety. A mobile phone is no longer a luxury – it is a digital lifeline that enables people to access humanitarian assistance, stay connected with loved ones and begin rebuilding their lives and livelihoods.
That reality came through vividly during our recent visit to eastern Chad, where I joined colleagues from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Government of Luxembourg as part of our Connectivity for Refugees initiative.
We travelled to communities along Chad’s border with Sudan – areas that have seen a large influx of displaced people from the Darfur region in recent months and years. Meeting humanitarian partners, local mobile operators and, most critically, refugees, we saw both the enormous challenges and the equally enormous potential.
Partnerships on the ground
Chad is a landlocked country with vast geography and complex connectivity barriers. Yet despite challenges ranging from high fuel costs and fragile infrastructure to significant taxation on telecoms and devices, both Airtel and Moov Africa have shown strong commitment to serving the needs of refugees and their host communities. Their teams are keeping networks running in difficult terrain, investing in expansion and working to extend mobile money and digital literacy across Chad.
For many refugees, however, the hurdles remain steep. Handset affordability is a major barrier, literacy levels are low, and connectivity infrastructure is thin in remote areas. Mobile money usage is particularly limited – only around 13% of people in Chad actively use mobile money, compared to 55% and 33% in neighbouring Cameroon and Nigeria respectively.
But there are encouraging signs: operators are innovating with local-language communications, and partnerships with UNHCR and others are exploring ways to make mobile access more inclusive and financially sustainable.
Evidence to drive action
To design solutions that work, we must first understand where the gaps are. That’s why the GSMA partnered with UNHCR and other humanitarian organisations to develop the Connectivity, Needs and Usage Assessment – a displacement-focused data tool that measures end users’ access to and use of mobile and digital services. Country assessments – including one now underway in Chad – help identify where improvements are needed and guide targeted interventions.
Our Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation programme has also mapped mobile network availability in refugee-hosting areas. Our report published last year mapped the “humanitarian mobile coverage gap” in DRC, Burkina Faso and Nigeria, demonstrating that displaced populations are more likely to live in areas without coverage. In Chad, early analysis indicates that while around 85% of refugees live within 2G coverage, as few as 1 – 3% are covered by 4G. These insights are critical to shaping our focus and delivery under the Connectivity for Refugees initiative.
A shared responsibility
The number of forcibly displaced people worldwide continues to rise, and with it, the urgency to accelerate sustainable connectivity solutions. Two years on from the launch of the Connectivity for Refugees initiative, together with UNHCR, ITU, the Government Luxembourg and a growing group of partners – we are accelerating towards our goal of connecting 20 million refugees and the communities that host them by 2030. Our visit to Chad reminded us of what that goal looks like on the ground: not a statistic, but an entrepreneur running a digital connectivity centre or a young person remotely learning to code online.
The challenge is too large for any one country, one international organisation or one company to solve on its own. Achieving this vision will require continued partnership between governments, humanitarian actors and the private sector – and a shared commitment to make connectivity available, resilient and inclusive.
In Chad, the challenges are real – but so is the progress
Seeing local innovation, the dedication of humanitarian teams, and the resilience of communities gives me hope that together we can make connectivity a reality for refugees and host communities – no matter where they are displaced.
This initiative is currently funded by UK International Development from the UK government and by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and is supported by the GSMA and its members.
