MTN SA FOUNDATION

COMMITTED TO EMPOWERMENT IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

If South Africa is to achieve its aim of becoming an ‘e-skilled’ economy, South Africans need to be empowered and ready to participate in the IT sector and growing gig economy.

While there are many ways to tackle the pressing social issues facing South Africa today, the MTN SA Foundation’s approach is to use technology to create shared value in education.

As MTN’s primary vehicle for contributing to transformational social change, the MTN SA Foundation works to deliver a number of structured corporate social investment interventions while contributing to building a more developed socioeconomic environment for current and future generations.

Supporting South Africa’s developmental agenda

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution deepens and the digital environment rapidly evolves, it is natural that

South Africa should aspire to become an ‘e-skilled’ economy. There are, however, stumbling blocks on the path, including our lack of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) matriculants and, where these skills do exist, the development of the entrepreneurial skills required to broaden participation in the IT field.

Helping to increase the number of STEM matriculants lies in educational policy and in the development of initiatives that the government must implement if it aims to make South Africa an ‘e-skilled’ nation. Accomplishing national objectives by assisting IT entrepreneurs to obtain the business skills required to energise further and expand the sector, is where the private sector and its partners can make a significant contribution.

Medium-sized IT companies, for example, can become role models in their communities, guiding and encouraging others to become established and competitive in the digital world. In support

the MTN SA Foundation has undertaken the task of empowering entrepreneurs by implementing programmes which aims to foster an entrepreneurial mindset through training, mentorship, and small business support.

Tackling the digital divide and equipping young people for the future

As a major player in the telecommunications industry and employer of a large workforce, MTN believes it has an important role to play in providing youth with opportunities to enhance their ICT skills and long-term career prospects. MTN also has a role to play in enabling an environment for innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation to grow in the digital economy.

In 2021, the MTN Foundation, in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, unveiled the MTN Online School—a transformative digital learning platform catering to learners from Grade R to Grade 12. This initiative reflects a commitment to advancing education through technology.

MTN Online School is a free integrated online educational portal developed in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the National Education Collaboration Trust (NECT). The platform provides a comprehensive digital curriculum for grades R-12, covering a wide range of subjects and topics. Learners can access video lessons that supplement classroom learning. These videos cover various subjects and help reinforce concepts.

The platform offers assessments to test learners’ knowledge and understanding also provides extratuition lessons to enhance their understanding of specific subjects.

The MTN Online School initiative continues to pave the way for a

technologically advanced and inclusive education landscape in South Africa.

To bridge the digital divide and accelerate digital access and digital literacy, MTN has over the years invested heavily in digitizing education through the investment of over 300 multimedia centres in schools and communities across South Africa. Additionally, we have partnered with the Department of Basic Education to assist digitize Grade 10 to 12 curriculum aligned textbooks and workbooks for Information Technology (IT) and Computer Applied Technology (CAT), over R9 million was invested in this project.

The MTN SA Foundation fulfils its mandate through a range of community programmes designed to allow for agility and responsiveness

in delivering solutions to the most disadvantaged communities across South Africa. The interventions are underpinned by an entrepreneurship programme targeting small and medium enterprises (SMMEs), university students and high school learners nationally.

Providing youth with the business skills they need to participate in the economy

A digitally empowered society is a winning society. If South Africa is to retain and develop its promise as one of the continent’s leading economies, the digital divide that separates the “haves” from the “have-nots” must be breached, and therefore in 2023 the MTN SA Foundation, invested R14 million in its ‘Digital Skills for Digital Jobs ‘ drive to equip 900 unemployed South African youth nationally, 100 candidates per province with the skills they need to grow into innovative entrepreneurs and even find employment.

The programme also assists with developing and improving the entrepreneurial skills and business processes of small businesses within the ICT sector.

As an extension of the existing ICT SMME accelerator programmes, the Foundation has introduced the MTN Women in Digital Business challenge (MTN WDBC) through existing implementation partners.

The programme looks to provide financial and other resources to a cohort of deserving black womenowned ICT businesses, with the view of further accelerating their business for growth, sustainability, and job creation. The challenge is only open to female graduates/ alumni members from previous MTN Accelerated Business Development programmes.

Through the MTN WDBC the Foundation provides ICT business owners with the tools to create businesses that are robust, innovative, and able to succeed in a challenging and ever-changing operating context. The programmes are implemented at three levels and aim to foster an entrepreneurial mindset through training, mentorship, and small business support.

One of the MTN SA Foundation’s most significant youth skills development initiatives is the MTN Digital Skills Academy. Launched in December 2023, the portal focuses on career guidance and preparing young learners and unemployed youth for jobs of the future.

With innovation and growth at the forefront of our economy in our modern, connected world, our digital skills training broadens user thinking and the ability to innovate.

Through trusted relationships that we have with our implementing partners, we hope that we can help more South Africans realise their potential through programmes such as the Digital Marketing programme.

At completion of the programme, we believe that candidates will walk away more resilient, with creative and critical decision-making skills to start or grow their business. The programme is also an invaluable networking opportunity where candidates and mentors can interact on challenges facing our sector. We are trying to bridge the gap between the learning material and the real world, where candidates can put the skills to practice.

Entrepreneurship at university and school-level

At university-level, the MTN SA Foundation partners with Enactus South Africa to deliver business training and mentorship to tertiary students across the country. The programme brings together students, academics and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need. Young people are challenged to design projects that demonstrate their entrepreneurial skills and aptitudes.

The MTN Digital Innovation challenge is an extension of the overarching Enactus programme, and the aim of this challenge is to facilitate the development of digital services to address socio-economic challenges within the health, education and agricultural sectors.

Looking ahead…

South Africa's future must be rooted in a digital focus now, and our Ambition 2025 strategy aims at bringing a bold new digital world closer to all South Africans. MTN SA believes that the power of technology is the key to opening opportunities. Central to our national success will be promoting and developing entrepreneurial skills and sustainable business practices in the small ICT business sector. It is a commitment that we at the MTN SA Foundation will continue to support and promote. 