DURBAN - Old Mutual is celebrating its 175th anniversary by expanding its African footprint with the launch of an online platform called Africa's Digital Classroom.
Through Africa’s biggest Digital Classroom, Old Mutual aims to leverage partnerships to address a key challenge at the heart of the aspirations and dreams of every African: education.
Vuyo Lee, Old Mutual Chief Marketing Officer said that brand’s intensified focus on IT innovation has inspired the pan-African legacy project that will mark the company's 175th anniversary.
"Improving people’s lives is a vital aspect of the Old Mutual brand and this ambitious project, to be rolled out in three stages over seven years, represents a direct response to the education exclusion, low financial literacy, and poor teacher-to-learner ratios endemic across Africa. It will also help provide access to the physical and financial resources that hamper education on the continent," said Lee.
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— Old Mutual Limited (@OldMutualLtd)
Old Mutual has a history of supporting financial literacy and enabling broader financial inclusion across the continent. This work has taught Old Mutual that education and skills training are the key to unlocking Africa’s potential and opening up its opportunities to prosper.
"We recognise the important role we play in investing in education and skills development, and unleashing meaningful business opportunities. At the heart of our Responsible Business ethos is our quest to use our resources effectively to drive positive impact and build a financially inclusive society across Africa," said Lee.
According to Lee, through the digital classroom, Old Mutual's ambition is to change the average financial literacy level by extending financial education and financial literacy content across the continent, to address this gap.
The platform is intended to connect learners, teachers, entrepreneurs and other players in the education space and the digital classroom will target teachers, entrepreneurs, learners, primary and high school education.
Financial education will be the primary content offered on Africa's Digital Classroom and it will reflect the learning cultures and traditions of the continent.
Old Mutual will be partnering with government, education providers, telcos, NGO and any like minded organisation seeking to make an impact to the societies in which they operate. This will ensure that the content being offered is relevant and effective.
"We believe in lifelong learning, and the design of Africa’s Biggest Digital Classroom will reflect this sentiment," concluded Lee.