MTN Group has signed a multi-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, committing both organisations to advancing meaningful connectivity and digital inclusion for refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), asylum seekers, and host communities across MTN’s operating markets.
Speaking at the announcement, Nompilo Morafo, Group Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer at MTN Group, said:
“At MTN, we believe everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life. Connectivity is not a privilege — it is foundational to dignity, protection, and economic participation. When people are forced to flee, digital access becomes critical: it keeps families connected, enables access to assistance, and restores agency. This partnership reflects our conviction that inclusion must be intentional and systemic, especially for the most vulnerable.”
The partnership speaks to a growing imperative: in an increasingly digital world, connectivity is not a secondary consideration in humanitarian response — it is central to it. Across sub-Saharan Africa, conflict, economic shocks, and climate-related disasters continue to drive large-scale displacement. More than 20 million displaced people currently live in markets where MTN operates, many of them caught behind compounding barriers to digital access — from a lack of recognised identification and unaffordable devices, to limited network coverage, language constraints, and low digital literacy.
Without reliable connectivity, access to protection information, humanitarian aid, education, financial services, and livelihood opportunities remains severely out of reach.
Under the agreement, MTN and UNHCR will work to make connectivity more affordable and accessible in refugee-hosting areas, expand resilient network infrastructure, and drive digital and financial inclusion through mobile money, remittance enablement, and digital skills development.
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The partnership will also address foundational gaps in identity and literacy — recognising that documentation and digital capability are often the first obstacles to meaningful participation in the digital economy.
Beyond direct service delivery, the collaboration aims to drive systemic change by mobilising funding and fostering multi-stakeholder partnerships that generate measurable socio-economic impact for displaced and host communities alike.
Implementation will begin in Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan, with a structured roadmap to expand across additional MTN markets with significant displaced populations.
The partnership is anchored in the Connectivity for Refugees initiative — a coalition of international organisations and public and private sector actors working toward a shared goal of connecting 20 million forcibly displaced people by 2030.