Côte d'Ivoire: ADEA, the Didier Drogba Foundation and Education Ministry sign MoU to promote digital literacy in Africa

Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 21 May 2019 – The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) hosted by the African Development Bank, the Didier Drogba Foundation (FDD) and the Ministry of National Education, Technical and Vocational Training (MENETFP) have signed a deal to promote digital literacy in Africa.

The KALAAN initiative involves sensitizing public bodies and development partners to prioritize literacy. It will educate the target populations on development issues such as citizenship, health and financial inclusion through special literacy programs.

The signing took place at the Ministry's premises in the presence of Minister Kandia Camara, Didier Drogba, international soccer star and president of the Didier Drogba Foundation, and ADEA Executive Secretary Albert Nsengiyumva. Yaya Toure, Manager of BYTE sarl and senior officials of the three bodies also attended.

Overall, the project aims to improve literacy levels of more than 10 million people in Africa over five years, using new information technology, including smartphones with a special focus on women and rural communities. Specifically, it will cover some three million people in Côte d'Ivoire in the next three years.

The project will use the AmBC model of digital literacy, developed by the Ivorian innovator BYTE sarl.

"I am proud of this partnership and the idea is to reach 10 million young people in five years in Africa," said Drogba.

ADEA’s Nsengiyumva said ADEA was supporting the initiative because it considered education as a key to development.

Minister Kandia Camara reiterated the need for women, men and young people, especially rural communities to read, write and “calculate”, using a smartphone.

The use of information technology is one of the emerging strategies for the promotion of literacy in several countries. Smartphone-based literacy programs have proven effective in numerous African countries as it provides flexibility to learners with mobility impairments or those who are unable to be physically present at the leaning centre.