Microsoft is offering Office 365 for free to anyone between the ages of 8 to 24 in South Africa. Through a Microsoft initiative called Mahala. The free offer allows you to use the full version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, and 5 TB of Onedrive storage on your PC, MAC, mobile phone or tablet.
Microsoft says it has simplified the signup process to remove blockers such as lack of an academic email address. And has extended the benefits to include the installed version of Office instead of limiting it to only web access. More than about 20,000 South Africans are on the Microsoft Mahala platform so far. The main signup requirement is to have a South Africa ID number to verify you qualify for the offer. You can find this ID number on a birth certificate or ID book.
Here is how to signup and get Office 365 for Free
Step 1
Step 2
- Scroll down to register & complete all the fields.
- When choosing a password, ensure it is between 8 – 16 characters and contains letters, numbers and symbols.
- Read the Terms and Conditions, tick the box indicating you have, and that someone older than 18 has completed or assisted in registration.
- For security reasons, tick the “I’m not a robot” reCAPTCHA.
- Click “SIGN ME UP”
Step 3
- You’ll receive your welcome email to your Personal Email Inbox, with your Mahala.ms username and password.
Use these details to get your copy of Office and OneDrive. - The email contains links to the Mobile Apps for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. You can also download them directly from your phones App Store.
- Windows and Mac users can log into http://portal.office.com and click “Install Office365 to get the Desktop & Laptop versions of Office and OneDrive.
Check out other stories making the news in the technology ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East.