Facebook, Airtel Partner to Bring Internet.org APP to Ghana

A status update by Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Facebook on his page stated that social media platform had partnered with Airtel to give people on the Airtel network access to free basic internet services for education, health, jobs and communication.

Unlocking opportunities

"Right now only about 12 per cent of people in Ghana are connected to the internet, but connectivity is already improving people's lives and communities. By connecting everyone, we hope to unlock even more opportunities for Ghana, " said Zuckerberg.

Ghana is the fifth country we've connected through Internet.org -- after Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Colombia.

"Thank you to our community for your support and for pushing to bring Internet.org to more countries as we continue on our path to connect the whole world," he added.

Extra features

Among the key features in the application include AccuWeather a feature that gives updated weather information, BabyCenter & MAMA where women get to learn more on pregnancy and children, BBC News feature, Ebola feature from UNICEF, Facebook, Facts for Life, FunDza a feature where one can read books and stories

Other features that have been incorporated include GhanaWeb a news platform about Ghana, Girl Effect, Jobberman, Messenger, News24, Scholars4Dev, SuperSport, Tonaton.com where one can buy and sell products, Wattpad and Wikipedia.

Internet.org was launched on August 20, 2013. It is a partnership between social networking service company Facebook and six mobile phone companies (Samsung, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera Software, and Qualcomm) that aims to bring affordable Internet access to everybody by increasing affordability, increasing efficiency, and facilitating the development of new business models around the provision of Internet access