MTN Group has signed a multi-year agreement with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to bring affordable, meaningful connectivity to more than 20 million displaced people living across its African markets, in one of the most significant private sector commitments to humanitarian digital inclusion on the continent.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), announced at MWC26 in Barcelona, commits MTN and UNHCR to making connectivity more affordable and accessible in refugee-hosting areas, expanding resilient network infrastructure, and advancing digital and financial inclusion through mobile money, remittance enablement, and digital skills development.
The partnership covers MTN’s full portfolio of African markets, including Ghana, Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Cameroon, among others. For many of the displaced people living across those markets, exclusion is compounded by a combination of systemic barriers, including the lack of recognised identification, unaffordable devices and data, limited broadband coverage, language constraints, and low digital literacy.
Nompilo Morafo, MTN Group Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer, said connectivity is foundational to human dignity and not a privilege. “When people are forced to flee, digital access becomes critical. It keeps families connected, enables access to assistance, and restores agency,” Morafo said.
UNHCR Deputy High Commissioner Kelly T. Clements described the agreement as a significant step toward closing a gap that leaves millions of displaced people cut off from lifesaving information, education, financial services, and livelihood opportunities. “MTN’s reach and scale across Africa make this collaboration a significant step toward closing the connectivity gap for millions,” Clements said.
Implementation will begin in Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan, with a structured roadmap to scale across additional MTN markets hosting significant displaced populations. The partnership also aims to address identity and documentation gaps, which the two organisations identified as the first barrier most displaced people encounter when attempting to access digital services.
Ghana currently hosts approximately 17,300 registered refugees and asylum seekers, drawn mainly from Burkina Faso, Togo, Liberia, and Sudan, with populations concentrated in the north, the west, urban centres including Accra, and the Volta region. MTN Ghana operates one of the country’s largest mobile money networks, making it well positioned to extend financial services to that population under the new framework.
The collaboration is anchored in the Connectivity for Refugees initiative, co-convened by UNHCR, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the GSMA, and the Government of Luxembourg, which aims to connect 20 million forcibly displaced people and their host communities by 2030.
