07 September 2022

Avanti Communications, provider of high throughput satellite capacity across EMEA and Clear Blue Technologies International, signed an agreement under which the lattermwill provide smart off-grid Power for Avanti’s e-learning services in Africa.

Avanti and its eLearning partners plan to deliver satellite connectivity to enable eLearning 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 eEducation services. This program aims to deliver improved educational outcomes in maths, literacy, and life skills for marginalised children in the region.

“At Avanti, we believe that every child deserves the socioeconomic benefits of a more connected life, starting at school," said Toby Robinson, chief of strategy & business development at Avanti, commented. "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-Saharan Africa has more than 600 million school-aged children and the lowest global mathematics and reading proficiency rates. Led by Avanti Communications and its partners, iMlango was a first-of-its-kind e-learning partnership created to deliver improved educational outcomes in maths, literacy and life skills. The project has been running for seven years and has delivered 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 funders across multiple countries in sub-Saharan 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 shall 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 eLearning system(s). 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.

“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Avanti into the eEducation space,” said Miriam Tuerk, CEO and Co-founder of Clear Blue Technologies. “This partnership helps Clear Blue’s target to contribute to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, one of which is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. As we have built ever stronger technical capabilities, our products will grow from telecom systems into other verticals and applications. Africa is a young continent with a large and growing population. As such, with the UN Sustainability Goals at work, funding and deployment of eEducation services is a large growth opportunity for Clear Blue.”