Ghana has become the fifth country globally to receive the internet.org application.
According to an update by Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO Facebook on his page, Facebook has partnered with Airtel to give people on the Airtel network access to free basic internet services for education, health, jobs and communication in Ghana.
“Right now only about 12% 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.
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
