According to the African Union, between 60 and 80% of Africa's population live in rural areas. Rural and distant learners are left without e-learning opportunities due to infrastructure limitations, mainly due to limited or no internet connection. Without proper connectivity, rural learners who are far away still lack shared learning materials that teach them how to engage in an information and communication technology (ICT) intensive world. This article examines the digital divide pervasive in rural Africa's educational environments and proposes cloud-enabled e-learning environments for education as a novel solution to facilitate e-learning in remote rural areas. This solution provides a bridge for digitally disconnected students, individuals and society to join the global ICT community and compete effectively. The article presents facts from the Kenyan education sector in adopting cloud-based web services and calls on African governments and educators to adopt a holistic systems approach to bridge the digital divide.

Keywords: e-learning, digital divide, rural education, cloud-internet, Africa