In Ghana, CSR is a thriving concept that has gained the attention of many businesses. The relationship between businesses and society is symbiotic, and companies are increasingly recognizing the importance of their role in society, Kofi Ahovi takes a look at some of the social investment made by MTN in 2023.
The year 2023 was challenging for most businesses in Ghana and perhaps globally.
While most businesses struggled to break even, others barely made any significant gains due to high operating cost and economic meltdown.
However, this did not deter well-meaning companies like MTN Ghana to continue to undertake its groundbreaking investments in its corporate social investment activities.
In 2023, MTN Ghana through the MTN Foundation undertook several CSR initiatives to support developmental agenda of the country by reaching the most vulnerable, marginalized, underserved communities and members of society without leaving anyone behind. In 2022, it implemented a new CSI approach, making a concerted shift towards more ICT enable programmes. Although there is a scope to complete national priority area or disaster relief efforts, MTN aims for 75% of its CSI spend to be focused on ICT ecosystem programmes.
MTN Ghana Foundation
The MTN Ghana Foundation was established in 2007 as a single purpose vehicle to drive all MTN’s CSR initiatives in the country.
The Foundation currently has three focus areas – Health, Education and Economic Empowerment.a I’m offThe Foundation is set up as a separate legal entity with its own independent Board of Directors and Patrons who oversee the operations of the Foundation. Its commitment is centred around the socio-economic development of the country through the roll-out of appropriate and sustainable social interventions in communities all over the country.
Investments
The MTN Foundation has invested over GH¢100 million in 2023 to improve health care, education and living conditions for more than four million people with over 180 projects across the entire country.
In the area of education, the Foundation has provided scholarships to over 1,800 needy and promising students in Ghana.
In 2022, an amount of GHS28.3 million (2021: GHS20.0 million) was charged to the statement of comprehensive income.
MTN Skills Academy
Also, in the year under review, the MTN Foundation launched the MTN Skills Academy, the first of its kind in Ghana to train over 100,000 Ghanaian youth with digital skills by 2025.
The Academy will leverage technology and partnerships to build and scale up skills of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years in a bid to bridge the digital skills and unemployment gap. The goal is to train unskilled youth in Ghana to build the needed skills for the future.
The MTN Skills Academy comes to complement the ongoing USD25 million Ghana ICT Hub that focuses on investing, developing and nurturing Africa’s growing youth population.
Kingsley Boakye of the Ministry of Education commended MTN for the initiative. He said the establishment of the MTN Skills Academy is in line with the Ministry’s objectives of equipping Ghanaian youth with skills development. He also revealed that government was working on an ICT Education Policy that will soon be rolled out.
Enterprise Support Programme
Also in the same year, MTN Ghana Foundation shortlisted a total of 140 micro and small enterprises to benefit from MTN Ghana Foundation’s Enterprise Support Programme for the first year of the five-year programme.
The project is expected to support 500 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for the next five years across Ghana and targets youth, women and differently abled led MSMEs. Selected beneficiaries will be supported with training, business development support, technical assistance, and seed funding.
Speaking at the onboarding programme, the Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Ghana, Adwoa Wiafe said, “In line with our diversity and inclusion drive, we made a conscious effort to select businesses that have clear social and environmental impact and align with our sustainability objectives and the UN SDGs. We were also interested in businesses with digital components since we are now pushing for digital inclusion.”
Girls in ICT
The MTN Ghana Foundation partnered with Code Coast Tech Hub to organize a mentorship and coding workshop for selected female students in Kasoa in the central region.
The initiative was organized to mark the 2023 International Day for ‘Girls in ICT Day’, a day set aside by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to encourage girls to take up careers in ICT. The day was celebrated under the theme “Digital Skills for Life”.
In the opening remarks, Cynthia Mills, the MTN Ghana Foundation Economic Empowerment Advisor, said “MTN Ghana Foundation seek to create fair opportunities for all and also encourage girls to take up the challenge of transforming societies by acquiring the necessary skills in ICT.
The MTN Ghana Foundation is committed to encouraging the female child to embrace opportunities in the digital space and find rewarding careers”, she added.
Y’ello Care
In June same year, MTN commenced its Annual Employee Volunteer Programme dubbed 21 Days of Y’ello Care under the theme ‘Empowering entrepreneurs to unlock growth and job creation for communities”.
Guided by the theme for 2023, MTN employee volunteers were focused on leveraging digital, financial tools and skills as enablers to unlock growth for entrepreneurs.
In view of this, MTN employees in Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast in partnership with Engage Now Africa, Triscola Company Ltd and Duapa Workspace trained youth entrepreneurs and women in basic financial skills, social media marketing and customer service to promote businesses in the digital space and connect these businesses to bigger markets using smart phones and social media.
MTN Heroes of Change
Another vehicle used by MTN to reward individuals who are engaging in social investments that align with its believes is the MTN Heroes of Change.
MTN Heroes of Change, an award-winning programme by the MTN Foundation, has celebrated distinguished individuals who have positively impacted their communities in areas of health, education, and economic empowerment.
Launched in 2013, the MTN Heroes of Change recognizes and rewards hardworking Ghanaians who have impacted their communities and Ghana with life-changing programs.
The program was paused for two years due to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic but returned with a special 25th anniversary edition that focuses on persons who made impacts during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 6th edition of the program was launched in February 2022 to reward persons who brightened lives in the Foundation’s three focus areas: health, education, and economic empowerment. The finalists received a cash prize of GH¢20,000, a certificate, and a citation, with visibility on TV and social media channels.
As the outgoing CEO of MTN, Selorm Adadevoh, puts it MTN Ghana stance is to lead in the delivery of bold, new digital world to its customers, and make their lives a whole lot brighter.
MTN ambition is to build the longest and most valuable platforms to drive the industry leading connectivity operations and create an accelerated portfolio transformation” he stated.
Conclusion
In conclusion, MTN Ghana’s remarkable investments in social interventions despite economic challenges demonstrate the company’s commitment to driving digital transformation and socio-economic development in Ghana.
Through its foundation, MTN Ghana is making a positive impact on the lives of millions of people, empowering communities, and promoting economic growth.
The company’s efforts to bridge the digital skills gap, support entrepreneurs, and recognize heroes of change are commendable and align with its ambition to lead in the delivery of a bold, new digital world to its customers.