South Africa

Builds locally managed last-mile networks while strengthening the technical, business and regulatory capacity of community providers that serve locations larger ISPs often do not reach.

Activities and approach: Selection, training and licensing of 25 LCNOs; public Wi-Fi deployment; public-facility connectivity; household broadband; MikroTik and Ubiquiti training; regulatory support; community-owned network development

combining low-Earth-orbit satellite broadband with an established South African ISP footprint to widen connectivity options.

Activities and approach: Partner Amazon Leo satellite broadband with Herotel service/network capabilities

Creates a long-term, locally anchored technology and skilling partnership focused on digital education and community capacity.

Activities and approach: Digital education and skilling; AI literacy; cybersecurity skills; connected safety; smart mobility; entrepreneurship; community activation.

providing digital literacy, cybersecurity, CCNA, and networking instruction at population scale

Activities and approach: Digital literacy; cybersecurity training; CCNA and networking courses; TVET delivery

Seeks to aggregate community-level providers into a scalable delivery model capable of extending affordable broadband into areas underserved by larger commercial networks.

Activities and approach: Form consortium of community internet providers; coordinate open-source/open-access broadband expansion; scale community networks across seven provinces; align local-provider deployment with national connectivity efforts

Adds a large-scale alternative to fiber by using standards-based 5G-Advanced fixed wireless infrastructure to reach more households quickly, expand provider choice and improve broadband availability.

Activities and approach: Build standalone 5G-Advanced wholesale network; deploy approximately 2,000 base stations; provide C-band FWA capacity to service providers; expand from Gauteng to additional provinces and regional centres

Provides free national-scale AI training to improve workforce participation in an increasingly AI-enabled economy.

Activities and approach: Six online AI courses; free learning; certificates

creating a local access point where rural residents can build digital skills, use online services, access markets and pursue education and employment

Activities and approach: Community computer centre; digital-skills support; education resources; employment access; agriculture information and market access

Provides no-cost hands-on exposure to advanced technologies and sustained mentorship for learners who often have little or no prior computer access.

Activities and approach: Six-day bootcamp; AI; robotics; automation; cybersecurity; VR; entrepreneurship; industry visits; mentoring

Builds digital capabilities required to benefit from expanding connectivity and digitally delivered services, with a particular focus on youth employability.

Activities and approach: Digital training; workforce upskilling; future-skills development.

Extends government-network capacity and community Wi-Fi into areas with persistent affordability and household-connectivity gaps.

Activities and approach: WAN/LAN expansion; public Wi-Fi hotspots; VoIP; connectivity to public institutions and TISH communities.

Supports school mapping, infrastructure planning, monitoring, finance and procurement to advance universal school connectivity.

Activities and approach: GIS mapping; school connectivity monitoring; planning; procurement.

Broadens access to advanced AI training, mentorship and non-dilutive support for local founders, strengthening participation in the AI economy.

Activities and approach: AI-focused curriculum; hands-on mentorship; technical support; equity-free funding

Reduces the digital gender divide by building practical AI, cloud and advanced-connectivity knowledge among women and supporting digital-first entrepreneurship.

Activities and approach: AI training; cloud computing; 5G-A introduction; digital-business tools; leadership and enterprise-growth sessions

Strengthens university-based ICT training and certification capacity for digital-economy careers.

Activities and approach: ICT Academy support center; instructor support; certification pathways; training resources

providing devices, coding education, and sustained digital-learning support to schools with weak connectivity and limited trained staff

Activities and approach: Coding instruction; digital education; device access; innovation and problem-solving activities

Provides free digital learning content and onsite education support in an accessible community location.

Activities and approach: Free Vodacom e-School content; onsite educational support; learner access space

Reduces higher-education exclusion by addressing the combined barriers of registration cost, device access, digital skills, online learning resources, and financial capability.

Activities and approach: Registration support; laptop provision; digital training; online learning resources; financial literacy workshops; partnership with Africa Tikkun

Provides reliable off-grid power that enables connected services and digital participation in communities beyond practical grid reach.

Activities and approach: Standalone microgrid; solar generation; battery storage; smart metering; distributed energy control; remote-community electrification

Adds substantial computer capacity for higher education and technology-skills development in an inner-city learning ecosystem.

Activities and approach: Three fully equipped computer laboratories

strengthening the resilient fiber backbone that supports public Wi-Fi, municipal buildings, digital communications and smart-city services

Activities and approach: Rehabilitation and upgrade of strategic fiber sections, wayleave coordination, trenching and restoration of core network links

Expands free and partner-delivered AI learning so that access to AI capabilities does not become a new skills-based digital divide.

Activities and approach: AI fundamentals; role-based learning paths; AI Skills Navigator; industry-recognized certification pathways; partner-delivered training

Creates a single digital entry point for government services and is designed as a zero-rated channel, directly reducing navigation and data-cost barriers.

Activities and approach: Gov.za platform; MyMzansi app; zero-rated access; digital wallet; unified government-service discovery.

Creates a reusable digital identity and verified-document wallet so residents can authenticate remotely and access services without repeated in-person verification.

Activities and approach: Functional Digital ID; verified document sharing; digital wallet; remote authentication.

Aims to enable secure, low-cost, real-time transactions between government and citizens, improving inclusion for people facing high payment and transaction costs.

Activities and approach: Real-time payments; interoperable government payment services; social-protection integration.

Reduces repetitive paperwork and fragmented service delivery by allowing agencies to securely reuse verified information already held elsewhere in government.

Activities and approach: Real-time government data exchange; interoperable administrative databases; verified data access.

Provides local computer access, free Wi-Fi and employment services to address youth unemployment and digital exclusion together.

Activities and approach: Computer lab; free Wi-Fi; municipal e-Recruitment portal; career and skills support

Aims to connect all public schools and overcome geographic and socioeconomic disparities in educational internet access.

Activities and approach: School broadband; universal-service obligations; fiber/wireless connectivity.

Establishes a satellite-based complement to terrestrial networks to improve resilience and reach underserved remote areas.

Activities and approach: South African-owned satellite system; satellite broadband; resilient communications; remote-service delivery.

Expands or enables connectivity for rural, remote, underserved, or unserved communities, addressing availability and service-quality barriers.

Activities and approach: Network deployment or expansion; connectivity delivery

Combines connected devices with structured digital-literacy instruction for learners from communities facing access and skills disparities.

Activities and approach: 40 laptops; broadband connectivity; cyber lab; digital-literacy curriculum for teachers and students.

bringing connected learning and emerging-technology exposure to an underserved community

Activities and approach: Mobile digital-lab deployment, connectivity, skills instruction, and emerging-technology demonstrations

Strengthens the human capability needed to operate inclusive digital government services rather than leaving new systems inaccessible or underused.

Activities and approach: Digital literacy; cybersecurity awareness; AI fluency; partnership-based workforce training.

Expands access to computing and digital learning in a township school.

Activities and approach: Donation and installation of digital lab; computer access; technology-supported teaching

Extends free/affordable local broadband access from backbone/government sites into communities through tens of thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots.

Activities and approach: 32,000+ planned community Wi-Fi hotspots; household coverage.

Uses public institutions as anchor demand to extend broadband into underserved districts and stimulate network investment.

Activities and approach: Broadband to government facilities; anchor-tenant model; network build stimulation.

Targets universal broadband access, including household coverage and public-sector connectivity.

Activities and approach: National broadband rollout; last-mile providers; public/private infrastructure.

Extends broadband to health facilities as a social-obligation component.

Activities and approach: Broadband connections

Connects shared public facilities that serve residents without home broadband.

Activities and approach: Broadband connections

Connects police facilities to reliable broadband and digital systems.

Activities and approach: Broadband connections

Uses smaller local ISPs to deliver community connectivity and broaden participation in the telecom economy.

Activities and approach: ISP contracting; community Wi-Fi

Extends broadband into local traditional-authority sites that can anchor rural access.

Activities and approach: Broadband connections

providing educators and children with technology tools from an early age

Activities and approach: ICT equipment handover and early digital-learning support

Reduces mobile-data cost as a barrier to socially valuable online information by making eligible PBO content accessible without consuming users’ data allowances.

Activities and approach: PBO eligibility review; operator implementation; mobile data zero-rating; Social Innovation Register; license-condition enforcement

Addresses the emerging divide between people who are connected and those who possess the AI and digital skills needed to participate productively in the economy.

Activities and approach: AI education and training; digital skills; local innovation; inclusive participation; workforce preparation

Creates a free community access point in a rural municipality where household connectivity may be limited or unaffordable.

Activities and approach: Public Wi-Fi network tower; free community internet access

Uses commercially sustainable satellite services to reach locations where terrestrial broadband deployment is difficult or uneconomic.

Activities and approach: Impact Marketplace project matching; managed satellite deployments; Twoobii GEO and LEO connectivity; local partner implementation

Provides hands-on access to equipment and practical digital-production skills that can translate connectivity into employment and entrepreneurship.

Activities and approach: Digital printing; laser cutting; 3D printing; maker technologies; applied digital-skills training.

Expands or enables connectivity for rural, remote, underserved, or unserved communities, addressing availability and service-quality barriers.

Activities and approach: Network deployment or expansion; connectivity delivery