Avanti Communications, a provider of high throughput satellite capacity across EMEA, and Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. (Clear Blue), the Smart Off-Grid company, have announced an agreement for Clear Blue to provide Smart Off-Grid power to Avanti’s e-learning services in Africa
Avanti and its e-Learning partners plan to deliver satellite connectivity to enable e-Learning for an initial 3,000-5,000 schools across sub-Saharan Africa. Clear Blue will be the exclusive off-grid power provider for Avanti’s e-Education services. This program aims to deliver improved educational outcomes in maths, literacy, and life skills for marginalised children in the region.
Toby Robinson, chief of strategy and business development at Avanti, commented, “At Avanti, we believe that every child deserves the socioeconomic benefits of a more connected life, starting at school. This partnership with Clear Blue will bring life-enhancing educational services to underserved communities across the region. Clear Blue’s Smart Off-Grid solves one of the biggest problems in hard-to-reach areas – a lack of easy, low cost and reliable power.”
Sub-Sahara Africa has more than 600 million school-aged children and the lowest global mathematics and reading proficiency rates. Led by Avanti and its partners, iMlango was a first-of-its-kind e-learning partnership created to deliver improved educational outcomes for over 180,000 marginalised schoolchildren in 245 schools in northern Kenya. Avanti and its partners are now working with Ministries of Education and NGO founders across multiple countries in sub-Sahara Africa to roll out the tried and tested iMlango approach to thousands of schools, with the objective of improving the lives and educational outcomes for millions of African children.
Avanti’s rural network coverage solution supports 2G, 3G, 4G and Wi-Fi connectivity across Africa. As part of this initiative, Avanti will provide critical connectivity services and VSAT equipment. At the same time, Clear Blue will provide its Smart Off-Grid solar-powered solutions with remote management and control to ensure maximum uptime of connectivity services necessary for Avanti’s deployment of its integrated e-Learning system. Clear Blue’s Smart Off-Grid technology will also power the educational equipment and systems. With initial pilots beginning in Q4 2022, the rollout will continue from late 2023 through 2025.
