Accra, Sept. 02.2021 (GNA) – MTN Ghana has donated GHS10 million to support girls in Information Communication Technology (ICT) project, an initiative aimed at exposing girls to ICT space.
The donation, which will run for three years, is part of MTN’s 25th anniversary celebration goals.
Mr Samuel Koranteng, Chief Corporate Services Officer, MTN, speaking at a brief ceremony to present the cheque for the amount, in Accra, said the company was pleased to support the Government’s efforts to address the female participation gap within the Ghanaian ICT sector.
Mr Koranteng, said the company was pleased to support the Government’s efforts to address the female participation gap within the Ghanaian ICT sector.
He noted that the company was a signatory to the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles, which encouraged the company to advance the cause of Gender Equality and the Women Empowerment.
“Our core belief as a business is that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern, connected life. We therefore strive to ensure that men and women benefit equally from ICT,” he said.
“Gender Empowerment is a key strategic component of MTN’s Corporate Social Investment and over the years we have made significant contributions in this regard. We however do not wait until precocious young girls become seasoned women professionals before taking an interest in them. Our contributions start from the grassroots level”.
Mrs Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, said men had over the years dominated the technology space, hence the need to train and encourage women to go into that sector.
She said introducing girls to ICT early would help build their skills to compete in the technological world.
“I am excited how young girls have joined the programme and are learning the mainstream ICT education like decoding and building of websites,” she said.
She said 1,000 girls were being trained in an ongoing training at the Western North Region but was hopeful to see more girls get trained all over the country to get good job opportunities.
Mrs Owusu-Ekuful entreated women to embrace technology because it was a vital sphere of human activities, it had been a major stool for many firms staying in business during the pandemic.
She thanked MTN Ghana for their kind gesture and called on other organisations to come and support the programme to help more girls acquire knowledge and needed skills to make Ghana one of the fastest growing technological countries.
