The GSMA recently signed a thirty-eight million-pound partnership with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).
The ‘Partnership for Inclusion, Innovation and Scale’ will provide funding for the GSMA’s Mobile for Development work on digital inclusion, digital identity, energy, water, sanitation and the reduction of the mobile gender gap. It will also include two new areas of focus: disability and climate.
The partnership will unearth critical insights on the needs of the underserved and identify and invest in mobile-enabled innovations and business models which can drive inclusion at scale. New technologies and business models, such as mobile money and pay-as-you-go (PAYG) solar energy, have been crucial to delivering socio-economic impact to the underserved.
DFID, one of the world’s first donors to embrace digital technologies, has been at the forefront of these innovations. The GSMA’s Mobile for Development programme is experienced in bringing digital innovations to scale, by engaging the private sector, especially mobile operators and digital innovators.
Mats Granryd, Director General, GSMA
This landmark partnership with DFID reinforces the joint power and potential of the private and public sectors working together and ensures that we will continue our crucial role of stimulating digital innovation to deliver both sustainable business and large-scale socio-economic impact for the underserved.
