As the telecommunications market continues to grow, MTN Ghana is harnessing the technology’s ability to empower people
Written by Chris Farnell & Produced by Issac Frempong
The world is getting smaller, thanks to global communications. With the growth of the internet and mobile communications, and the advent of 3G causing these technologies to merge, everyone is expected to be part of the global conversation, or risk getting left behind.
MTN Ghana understands this, and has dedicated itself to providing the telecommunications services to the masses. In Ghana the company is a household name, and provides extensive network coverage to over 90 percent of the population in
all ten of the country’s regional capitals, as well as many remote and rural areas. Indeed, as the website of the firm states, MTN’s vision is to be the leading telecommunication service provider in emerging markets, with a mission that consists of ‘building shareholders value by ensuring maximum customer satisfaction through providing the latest telecommunication services, at the most economical rates, while meeting its social responsibilities as a good corporate citizen and providing growth prospects for its employees’.
Since MTN entered the Ghanaian market in 2006, with the acquisition of Investcom, the company has invested heavily in the country’s communication infrastructure, expanding its coverage and capacity and introducing many of the latest technologies.
Driven by its give key values, Leadership, Innovation, Integrity, Relationships and Can do, the company provides innovative, customer-focused products and services, including major technologies such as 2G, 2.5G, Edge and 3.5G. Part of the global MTN group, which connects over 103 million people across 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East, MTN Ghana adheres strongly to the group’s philosophy that access to communication brings economic empowerment.
Group Chief Executive Phuthuma Nhleko’s management team, as the website says, leads MTN’s expansion strategy in pursuit of new telecommunications licenses across the rest of Africa and internationally and provide support to all MTN’s operations outside of South Africa.
As one of the most enterprising operators to enter the cellular arena in Africa, MTN has duplicated its outstanding success from South Africa in its operations in Rwanda, Uganda, Swaziland, Cameroon and Nigeria, thus ensuring that those countries have access to leading edge technology which is affordable without compromising on quality. With these successes, MTN’s vision is fast becoming a reality, a vision with a focus on three clusters, East Africa, West/ Central Africa and the Southern Africa. The move towards seamless communication in Africa is gathering momentum.
The firm’s success in Africa isn’t just about providing telecommunications networks, which enable communication across countries and continents. MTN’s aim is to facilitate change that will have long-term domestic benefits. Apart from the obvious economic development, local infrastructure and facilities are upgraded and the quality of life in communities is uplifted.
EMPOWERMENT THROUGH COMMUNICATION
As you learn more about the workings of MTN, it’s easy to see the empowerment is a strong theme throughout its activities. The company has founded the MTN Ghana Foundation, established in 2007 as a single purpose vehicle to drive all MTN’s Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives in Ghana.
Its mission is to demonstrate MTN Ghana’s commitment to, and support for, community
empowerment.
Focusing on Health and Education, the Foundation aims to foster strategic relationships with partners and stakeholders nationally and worldwide for good corporate citizenship collaboration. The Foundation also works to foster teamwork values among the company’s staff with its proactive Employee Volunteer Association to support the Foundation’s activities.
The Foundation’s achievements include the launch of 10 replicable ICT learning centres across the country, equipped with computers, a printers, USBs, digital cameras, scanners and more. Executive Director of the MTN Ghana Foundation, Mawuena Dumor, says: “being mindful of the responsibilities that come with our leadership role in global telecommunications, MTN has sought to execute on sustainable social development initiatives that would benefit the broad spectrum of Ghanaians everywhere we go.”
A TEAM PLAYER
The company was also fortunate enough to become the sponsor 2010’s FIFA World Cup in South Africa, something MTN is justifiably pleased with itself for. “We at MTN are delighted that as a company that is traditionally rooted in Africa and positioned strategically to provide excellent services in emerging markets, we would win the rights to sponsor a game that Africans adore,” says Brett Goschen, MTN Ghana’s CEO.
The company’s philosophy, having pride in Africa’s heritage while reaching out to the rest of the world, can perhaps be seen nowhere more clearly than the company’s campaign concept for the 2010 World Cup.
The company’s Chief Marketing Officer, George Andah, explains: “We are using a number of significant African items including the calabash which is traditionally used to welcome guests into our homes, we are welcoming the world to Africa, but even stronger is the recognition of the fact that we all share One Spirit and One Game.
That spirit, which makes us Create, Challenge and Serve, is what we are seeking to reinforce.”
FACTS AT A GLANCE
COMPANY NAME: MTN Ghana
CEO: Brett Goschen
OPERATIONS: Provides telecommunications services throughout Ghana
ESTABLISHED: 2006
EMPLOYEES: 2000
www.mtn.com.gh
View Digital Corporate Profile of MTN Ghana in Technology Digital December 2009