Democratic Republic of Congo – The 3-2-1 Service

Community fish-farming ponds in the rural town of Masi Manimba, DRC by DFID (CC BY-SA 2.0)

With five official languages (and hundreds more spoken), limited literacy rates, and only 14 percent of households connected to the electricity grid, the 3-2-1 Service is a game-changer delivering life-saving information to the most vulnerable communities in DRC.

The current content includes information on Agriculture, Clean Water and Sanitation (WASH), Decent Work and Economic Growth, Democracy & Governance, Environment & Global Climate Change, Financial Services, Gender Equality, Good Health and Well-being, No Poverty, Working in Crisis & Humanitarian, Zero Hunger.

Our partners support these goals with topics, messages, designed and tested to engage with DRC’s diverse population. (See below.)

All content is available in: French, Lingala, Swahili, Kikongo, Tshiluba.

The 3-2-1 Service in the DRC uses the “42502” short code rather than “321.”

Service 42502 launched in DRC in March 2017.

Vodacom’s 42502 Service is extraordinary in that it is offered in several national languages in order to respond to the information needs of every Congolese person, no matter their level of education or literacy.

—Anaiah Bewa, Director of Corporate Affairs, Vodacom Congo

Vodacom DRC

Vodacom currently holds the largest share of the DRC market, with about 12 million subscribers. Through coordinated programming, new subscribers are consistently being acquired, while current subscribers remain loyal customers.