MTC to fork out N$12.5 million to empower local communities
Digital enabler, MTC will fork out N$12.5 million for the financial year 2023/2024 towards Corporate Social Investment projects around the country, the company announced this week.
The investment will support new and continuing initiatives, cutting across projects in education, health, poverty alleviation, support for orphaned and vulnerable children, small and medium enterprise development and job creation, and the environment.
This announcement will deposit continued support in areas such as land delivery and early childhood development projects by partners Development Workshop Namibia, the National Internship Project, and the MTC Rural Schools Project that has thus far made an impact in 8 regions in three years.
“As a good corporate citizen of Namibia, we consider it our responsibility to invest in our community. Our stakeholders include not only customers, employees, shareholders, the government, regulators, and suppliers, but also very importantly communities. MTC plays a significant role in the country’s economy and the lives of most Namibians who support our business by buying our products and services. It is only right that we give back,” said Chief Human Capital, Corporate Affairs and Marketing Officer Tim Ekandjo.
The beneficiaries are projects including One Economy Foundation, MTC Rural School Project, Nation Internship Project, DW Land Delivery Initiative, DW Early Childhood Development, MTC4Life, MTC Care, Vision Restoration Initiative, Hope Village, Community Seedbank, Kunene Early Warning system, Sorting and the Sourcing initiative by the City of Windhoek.
Ekandjo added that while the company’s vision includes an emphasis on an inclusive economy, similarly, creating value for all its stakeholders is at the heart of its mission. This he said translates to stakeholder inclusivity as one of MTC’s fundamental values.
“That is why we do not focus exclusively on business activities that return a profit for our shareholders but also on social investment. This is in line with the strategic framework that guides us as Namibia’s largest telecoms provider and a leading corporate,” said Ekandjo.
Speaking on behalf of the Vision Restoration initiative, Dr Helena Ndume extended their heartfelt gratitude to MTC for the financial boost. “Your donation demonstrates that MTC cares for the communities they operate in. The state-of-the-art assistance means our people are now able to get assistance without paying thousands at private practices, and this is very commendable,” said Ndume.
At the event, MTC’s Managing Director, Dr. Licky Erastus MTC is proud to be making a significant contribution towards societal upliftment and sustainability.
“We are indeed very proud of the contributions we have made in each of these areas but we do realize that our road towards reaching sustainability is still ongoing. As I speak, we are in the process of crafting an ESG framework which we hope to adopt in 2024. This framework will allow us to look at ESG holistically. Once adopted and implemented, we desire to share this framework with our stakeholders. We will do so because we believe that the more companies adopt an ESG philosophy, the better our country will become in the areas of the Environment, Social and Governance, and ultimately towards sustainability.
“As we announce our continued support towards the social projects we will support in the next 3 years, I wish to reiterate that we make a clear distinction between Sponsorship and CSI, and our view is that there should be no competition amongst corporates whether in the public or private sector when it comes to CSI, we must collaborate, engage each other and partner if we want to make a real impact.”
