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UNICEF has launched a continent-scale procurement initiative to deliver internet connectivity to schools, health facilities, and other essential child-serving institutions across 54 African countries.
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The initiative aims to accelerate connectivity for up to 500,000 schools and facilities delivering essential services to children, marking a fundamental shift from fragmented, country-by-country procurement toward a coordinated market approach.
The Connectivity Crisis
For children, internet access underpins the rights to education, information, participation, and protection. Yet:
- 2.6 billion people globally remain offline
- Children in rural and low-income African communities are disproportionately excluded
- Without structural reform, connectivity gaps risk deepening inequalities in education, health, and economic opportunity
In many countries, artificial intelligence and digital technologies are transforming classrooms, labour markets, and public services. For other countries, however, the absence of basic internet access leaves millions of children unable to participate in that transformation.
As digital tools become central to how societies learn and work, connectivity is no longer optional infrastructure—it is foundational.
How the Initiative Works
The first phase is a public Request for Expression of Interest (REoI) , designed to identify and prequalify providers capable of delivering turnkey connectivity solutions—terrestrial, wireless, satellite, or hybrid—at scale.
A competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) is planned for Q2 2026.
Rather than issuing isolated tenders, UNICEF is working with governments to pool demand across national programmes. The model combines:
- Defined service-level standards focused on uptime and performance
- Data-driven monitoring to ensure accountability
- Longer-term contracting pathways intended to reduce uncertainty for both governments and providers
A Coordinated Market Approach
This launch marks a strategic shift: by aggregating government demand and standardising service expectations, UNICEF is building a procurement vehicle capable of operating at continental scale, while providing suppliers with greater predictability and clearer demand signals.
“This REoI, and the upcoming RFP, are designed to bring greater structure and predictability to school connectivity markets,” said Kaan Çentintürk, Chief Information Officer at UNICEF.
“By defining service expectations upfront and aligning demand across countries, we can move from fragmented procurement toward managed connectivity that is reliable, measurable, and sustainable.”
UNICEF’s Procurement Credentials
UNICEF brings extensive procurement experience from other sectors, including vaccines, worth a total US$5.2 billion each year across 162 countries. The organisation’s established systems and market credibility support large-scale delivery.
UNICEF will act as a procurement agent for participating governments and will work closely with financing institutions such as the World Bank, as well as partners including Smart Africa and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) , to align funding and implementation support.
What Providers Need to Know
The current REoI does not request binding pricing or bids. Instead, it seeks information on providers’:
- Operational capacity
- Geographic reach
- Ability to deliver managed connectivity services with accountability
Participation in this phase will determine eligibility for invitation to the competitive RFP process.
UNICEF welcomes providers able to operate legally in-country and deliver at scale, including solutions that:
- Ensure power continuity
- Incorporate child-appropriate cybersecurity and safeguarding measures
The Stakes for Africa’s Children
As digital tools become central to how societies learn and work, connectivity determines whether children can participate in the global economy or remain excluded.
This initiative offers a pathway to:
- Connect classrooms to digital learning resources
- Enable health facilities to access telemedicine and remote guidance
- Give children and families access to information and opportunity
- Prepare a generation of African youth for a digital future
The Request for Expression of Interest is open until 27 March 2026. Interested providers can access the full REoI and submission details at: https://giga.global/connectivity-reoi/.
