By Mark Kawalya
MTN has launched a skills school in Uganda that will address the digital skills gap among rural and marginalized youth.
The MTN Skills Academy, which will act as a catalyst for job development and increase career chances for young people in Africa by offering access to digital and financial skill training.
MTN stated that its partnership with the American Tower Corporation (ATC Uganda), which has Digital Communities located at the base of its towers, and Huawei, which has a mobile Digitruck delivering connection, making it possible to assist communities.
ATC’s Digital Communities are digitally linked areas that are equipped with ICT and provide instructor-led or self-guided financial literacy and career skilling, healthcare, digital literacy, and youth education programs with the aim of enhancing quality of life using connectivity.
Additionally, MTN Uganda unveiled its digital bus, which offers mobile connectivity so that locals may access the MTN Skills Academy from various sites across the nation.
Minister of State for Information, Communications, and Technology Joyce Nabbosa Ssebugwo stated: “This project will enable our youth to tap into the vast resources that MTN offers for our nation’s development.”
The chief sustainability and corporate affairs officer for MTN Group, Nompilo Morafo, stated: “We believe that this platform will be crucial in supplying Ugandan youngsters with the fundamental skills required to thrive in the digital economy. This will not only assist in addressing the nation’s lack of digital skills, but it will also favorably impact the direction of the country’s economic growth, in line with the recently unveiled Digital Transformation Roadmap.”
This week concluded the Uganda-South Africa investment and trade summit, which was attended by MTN Group and other key South African businesses with operations in Uganda.
The meeting aims to increase trade and investment between South Africa and Uganda. Yoweri Museveni, the President of Uganda, presided over the gathering.
While offering remarks, Mcebisi Jonas, the chair of MTN Group, stated: “As a Pan-African organization, MTN sees its role as an important part of the broader conversation to support and facilitate growth and development across the continent, and for that reason, the group has played its part in engaging with the public and private sector to make the summit a reality.” President Museveni urged businesses to keep investing in Uganda as he made his speech.
