The Corporate Social Responsibility wing of Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN), is reserving 75 per cent of its resources to ICT related programmes and initiatives. The MTN Ghana Foundation, in what it calls a 'strategic refocusing' is prioritising projects that reflect its commitment to the nation's digitisation drive. Mr Peter Bimpeh, Commercial Head for MTN's South East Region, addressing a media stakeholder engagement in Ho, said projects across all sectors, including economic empowerment, health, and education, would focus on ICT. He detailed that SME support, ICT hubs and business incubation, and virtual incubators and platforms as well as digital capacity, formed part of the economic empowerment component, while investments in diagnostic equipment, technology support and digital training have been earmarked for interventions in the health sector. In the area of education, MTN Foundation is looking at developing ICT centers while promoting data analytics, coding, and robotics programs. 'The b oard has agreed that as part of our digital agenda, any community support project that we would embark on, 75 per cent of that fund would go to ICT-related projects, and this is just to demonstrate to you, our commitment in the digital agenda that we all promise.' 'So, across the key thematic areas, we will still dedicate that chunk of money into these areas promoting ICT. Over the next year our vision remains connected with lives, and we intend to impact and touch the lives of 100,000 people by 2025. We'll continue embrace innovation, drive social change, nurture effective collaboration, and empower individuals in underserved communities,' the Commercial Head stated. MTN Ghana Foundation so far has reached out to a total 51 rural communities, providing tens of thousands with jobs, opportunities and career guidance, and training in digital and financial skills. It reports a total of 106.5 million invested in social impact projects, directly and indirectly impacting 4.5 million lives. A total of 166 social projects have been completed and which includes 90 education related projects, 55 in health care, 15 economic empowerment projects, and six community support initiatives. The media engagement is an annual ritual by the telco giant in recognising the role of the media in service delivery, and tens of practitioners from the Volta and Oti Regions that attended caught brief of the Company's progress and forward strides. MTN wants to lead the innovation of digital solutions for the progress of the African Continent and is working to maintain its hard-won brand and priorities on the SME sector. 'MTN Business is one critical focus area for us,' Mr Bimpeh said of the Company's business solutions outlet, adding that dedicated investments were being made to sustain lead in service delivery. The spoke of 'lots of investments' in network infrastructure with more than 5,000 cell sites across the country of which thousands underwent upgrades. Source: Ghana News Agency