On 24th April 2015, Wananchi group and members from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) toured the KENET facilities as part of showcasing the Wananchi Schools Connectivity project partners.  The meeting was attended by; Ms.  Barbara Breton (Director, Private Equity, OPIC), Ms. Loyce Chole (Liaison Officer-Business Development, Wananchi Group) and KENET Engineers.

The meeting was convened to update the OPIC stakeholders on the progress of the Wananchi Schools Connectivity Initiative. “I strongly believe this project will go a long way towards opening up education opportunities to students as they tap into ICT to advance their skills starting from an early age” said Ms.  Barbara Breton.  During the meeting Ms. Chole observed that the project will enable students supplement their current curriculum with materials which they can access over the free WIFI.

The Wananchi Schools Connectivity is a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of the Wananchi Group that aims to connect 245 Nairobi schools to the KENET backbone Network using their existing expansive home fibre network in Nairobi. The role of KENET in the project is to provide the local and international internet and content distribution services to the schools. The pilot phase of the project is expected to run for 15 months to allow the partners to develop a sustainability framework and to assess the e-readiness of the schools.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution. It mobilizes private capital to help solve critical development challenges and in doing so, advances U.S. foreign policy and national security priorities. https://www.opic.gov/