MTN Foundation Executive Secretary Odunayo Sanya visited the 2023 fellows of the MTN Media Innovation Programme (MIP). During her visit, she gave an overview of the foundation, its initiatives, achievements, and areas of investment.
Here are five things the MTN Foundation has achieved since its inception:
- Awarded over 12000 scholarships for STEM students and blind students
Till date, MTN Foundation has given over 12000 scholarships to students across public tertiary institutions in all the 36 states in Nigeria. The MTN scholarship scheme is for blind students as well as excellent students in Science and Technology and Maths programmes such as Engineering, Computer science, Robotics Chemistry and so on. To get this scholarship, students in tertiary institutions are to have and maintain a CGPA of 3.5. There are also about 400 scholarships for blind Nigerian students. The scholarship for blind students is not limited to only students offering the STEM programme. The Foundation also provides internship opportunities for students under their scholarship programme to make sure that these students are well-rounded. Another amazing scholarship the foundation introduced during COVID-19 is to give scholarships to the top 10 UTME students in any public tertiary institutions of their choice but they still have to also maintain a CGPA of 3.5.
- Established ICT and Business Skills Training Programmes
The foundation uses data obtained from Mortgage-backed Securities(MBS) to identify states with high levels of unemployed youth and then organize ICT and digital skill training which encompasses entrepreneur training, digital training and how to use technology and digital skills to elevate your business. About 3000 people are trained every year and a new twist was added to the program last year to encourage youth to do better. This year, the top 300 youth will be rewarded with equipment worth N300,000 and the training is in partnership with Meta, Microsoft and Google. Meta will train the participants on how to use Facebook, Thread and Instagram to promote their businesses, and they will also be given advertisement credits.
- Remodeled ICT and Science Laboratories in Secondary schools across Nigeria
MTN Foundation has set up 102 ICT labs and has deployed over 600 computer devices. The foundation also focuses on science labs remodeling because they want to get as many young people as possible into studying STEM. The foundation prioritizes female schools although they have established several labs in mixed schools. The foundation provides solar batteries, furniture, solar powered borehole, practical equipment and also trains the teachers to make sure the students get the proper learning they should. The foundation has remodeled 82 science labs across 26 schools.
- Upgraded 178 Primary Health Care Centers
MTN has upgraded 178 primary health care centers across all the states in Nigeria including the FCT. The upgrade consists of civil works which includes, the health care center gets a solar-powered borehole, alternative power (solar and battery), equipment which includes incubators, beds, stethoscope, blood pressure monitors and so on. This year, the foundation partnered with the Private Sector Health care Alliance of Nigeria, and they have helped in training, monitoring, and evaluating health care center staff.
- Y’ellopreneur Programme for Female Entrepreneurs
MTN partnered with Enterprise Development Center to come up with a curriculum fully funded by MTN to train female entrepreneurs. At the end of the program each woman would be able to create a business plan that can be presented to any company. The program set out to train 500 women across diverse sectors including Agriculture, Fashion, Manufacturing etc. Last year, 463 women completed the training, 182 women pitched for the equipment loan and 101 qualified for the loan.
The MTN Foundation has carried out many other projects such as the Y’ello Doctor mobile medical scheme, MTN MUSON music scholars’ program and Back-to-School initiative. MTN has invested N24.23 billion in projects across all the states in Nigeria, including FCT. It has embarked on 1017 projects and has successfully reached 3319 communities across the country.
