UNDP, Africell expand digital access for young innovators

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has entered into a partnership with Africell to strengthen digital connectivity at timbuktoo University Innovation Pods (UniPods) in Sierra Leone and The Gambia, supporting young innovators with the infrastructure needed to develop and scale impactful solutions

Under the collaboration, Africell will supply critical digital connectivity services to the UniPods, including 4G MiFi devices, high-speed internet access, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. These resources will enable students and early-stage innovators to design, test, and expand solutions addressing both local and global development challenges.

Ziad Dalloul, Africell Group CEO and president of the Africell Impact Foundation, commented, “This collaboration plays to everyone’s strengths by combining Africell’s connectivity expertise with UNDP’s innovation network. By equipping the UniPods in Sierra Leone and The Gambia with Africell’s signature internet services, we are investing in young Africans and helping to turn raw talent into successful enterprise”.

The partnership extends beyond connectivity provision. UNDP and Africell will jointly develop innovation and accelerator programmes aimed at increasing participation within the UniPods and enhancing their long-term social and economic impact. These initiatives will draw on robotics, entrepreneurship, and digital skills training already delivered by the Africell Impact Foundation through its network of learning centres across West Africa.

The agreement aligns with UNDP’s broader objective of strengthening Africa’s locally driven innovation ecosystem through the timbuktoo initiative, which focuses on unlocking opportunities for young entrepreneurs and technology-driven startups across the continent.

Emphasising the importance of access to digital infrastructure, Ahunna Eziakonwa, Assistant UN Secretary General and Director of UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, said, “Digital inclusion is key to Africa’s innovation future. This partnership expands digital access and gives young innovators the connectivity they need to turn ideas into impactful solutions. When we invest in young people’s talents and remove barriers to opportunity, we accelerate Africa’s path to competitiveness, and inclusive growth”.

UNDP’s UniPods are advanced maker and innovation spaces hosted within public universities, designed to equip young people with the tools, technologies, and skills required to transform ideas into market-ready products and services. The UniPods form part of UNDP’s wider timbuktoo programme, which also includes Policy Labs and several thematic industry hubs located in major African cities, all aimed at catalysing investment and innovation across the continent.