MTN Foundation commits Ghc445K to Youth training

MTN Ghana Foundation has committed some GHc445,000 to support the training of 100 young people in the Suhum and Nsawam municipalities of the Eastern Region. The Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Project (YEEP) module involves the training of youth in selected municipalities in mobile phone repairs and entrepreneurship. Beneficiaries are then presented with state of the art working equipment including working tools and a kiosks and sent off to go and put their skills to good use.

The MTN Ghana Foundation is implementing the project in collaboration with Plan Ghana International and the various municipal assemblies which are responsible for providing space and identifying the beneficiaries in their catchment areas.

So far a total of 100 youth have gone through the training and received certificates, tools and branded kiosks to enable them start-off in life properly.

At a graduation ceremony last week at the Suhum Municipal Assembly, where some 50 young and energetic youth were sent off, Chief Corporate Services Officer of MTN Ghana, Samuel Koranteng, who is also a Director of the Foundation, urged all to embrace the YEEP because it is “a fantastic project”.

“We all know how our world is changing and how the traditional skills that we used to cherish are gradually evolving. These changes have become more rapid with the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19 has opened our eyes to many uses of our mobile devices which has led to our heavy dependence on the mobile phone for our work, school, sales and marketing, religious activities, family affairs, streaming of events and in our everyday conversations. With this level of dependence, the phones/devices will definitely develop some faults, wear and tear at some point in time. Once in a while, there may be software and hardware problems which users cannot fix on their own,” he stated.

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The Foundation believes strongly that the project will go a long way to reduce the youth unemployment rate in the various communities and the country as a whole because the module equips the trainees with ready employable skills.

The trainees were taken through comprehensive topics including introduction to mobile phone technology, basic customer service, front end repairs, repair and rectification of faults of mobile phones. They were also educated on how to maintain a safe and secure working environment, among others.

“To ensure a holistic approach, we are providing the beneficiaries with start-up tools and kiosks to facilitate their quick adaptation and entry into the phone repair work. This reduces the burden of looking for start-up capitals. We hope that young people in Suhum and its environs will take advantage of this opportunity to prepare themselves to embrace a digital future.  The good thing about this project is that, in a few years’ time these trainees will become “Masters” and they can train other young people. This chain continues to many generations of young people,” Koranteng stated.

According to him, the YEEP forms part of the MTN Ghana Foundation’s commitment to brightening lives and express its appreciation to communities in which it operate, for their loyalty to the MTN brand and for the sustenance of their business.

Country Manager for Plan Ghana International, Maud Tsagli, in her remarks said her outfit believes in empowering young people, especially ladies so they could be independent and that is what formed the basis of their collaboration with MTN over the project. She congratulated the females among the trainees for taking up the challenge in a male dominated area to get trained for economic independence.

“I encourage you to excel in this endeavor. Today, you are being armed with the most important tool needed for you to succeed in life, make the best out of it, stay focused, stay strong and you can make it,” she told the trainees.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Suhum, Margaret Darko Darkwa, said the training of the youth in mobile phone repairs will reduce the cost of most people going to Koforidua or Accra just to repair their mobile devices. She advised the trainees to maintain a high level of discipline and commitment as they practice with the skills they have learnt.

“The government is doing its best to support youth employment through initiatives such as NABCO, Planting for Food and Jobs and many more. All these are aimed at making the youth to acquire skills that would make them financially independent. We thank MTN Ghana and Plan Ghana International for their initiative which has come to support what the government is doing,” she stated.

Since the inception of the Foundation in November 2007, MTN Ghana Foundation has implemented some 154 projects including this project with an investment of over 15 million USD. The interventions are in the areas of Education, Health and Economic empowerment, impacting more than 4 million people in Ghana.

By Jeorge Wilson Kingson || ghananewsonline.com.gh

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