MTN Ghana has donated $1.6 million (GHS10 million) to the Girls in Information Communication Technology (ICT) Project. A Ghanaian effort aimed at training young women in the field of information and communication technology.
The investment will last three years and is part of MTN Ghana’s 25th-anniversary celebrations. MTN Ghana’s Chief Corporate Services Officer, Samuel Koranteng, said the business was glad to support the government’s efforts to close the gender gap in the country’s ICT industry at a brief ceremony in Accra to present the donation.
“As a company, we believe that everyone deserves the benefits of a contemporary, connected lifestyle. As a result, we aim to ensure that men and women benefit equally from ICT,” Koranteng said, adding that MTN is a signatory to the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles, which has inspired the company to promote gender equality in its operations.
“A fundamental strategic component of MTN’s Corporate Social Investment is gender empowerment, and we have made considerable contributions in this area over the years. We, on the other hand, do not wait until precocious young girls have matured into experienced women professionals before being interested in them. He went on to say, “Our contributions begin at the grassroots level.”
Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Ghana’s Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, stated that the country’s tech sector has long been dominated by men, necessitating the need to teach and encourage more women to enter the field. She believes that exposing girls to ICT at a young age will help them develop the required abilities to compete in the tech business later on.
“I am encouraged by the number of young girls who have enrolled in the program and are learning basic ICT skills such as decoding and website development,” Owusu-Ekuful added.
According to the Minister, 1,000 young women are now being trained in Ghana’s Western North region as part of an ongoing event. She went on to say that she hopes to see more women receiving training around the country to help them advance in their careers.
MTN Ghana was commended for their generosity, and Owusu-Ekuful called on other organizations to support the program so that more African women can gain much-needed ICT knowledge and skills.
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