The acting corporate service officer of MTN Ghana, Mrs. Georgina Asare Fiagbenu has said her outfit has contributed Gh¢3.1billion to the country’s revenue since its existence in the country.
According to her, the contribution of the multinational company includes employment and taxes paid to the Ghanaian government since its inception in the country some twenty-six years ago.
She explained that her outfit has provided over 500,000 jobs to the Ghanaian youths through its ecosystem of partnership and suppliers while a total of Gh¢2.54m representing 4.4 percent of its profit has been paid to the Ghanaian government as taxes and Gh¢119m as national fiscal stabilisation levy to the government.
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Aside the aforementioned, Mrs Asare Fiagbenu indicated that about 56 percent of the overall communication service tax received which is Gh¢297m has been paid to the government.
She continued that, “We have been supporting the local value chains with 75 percent of our spend going to local suppliers. Total active suppliers base is 1,144 with 897 as local suppliers, representing 78 percent of the active local suppliers base in 2021. Total spend of Gh¢3,201,552,901 and local supplier spend is 75 percent of the total spend.”
Addressing a gathering at the well-attended media and stakeholders forum in Takoradi on August 25, Mrs Asare Fiagbenu said MTN has also invested over Gh¢64m in community development in Ghana which consist of educational projects, healthcare projects, economic empowerment projects and support to selected communities in the country.
She indicated that the award-winning telecommunication company has invested in over 187 educational projects which includes ICT Centres, libraries, classroom and dormitory blocks as well as offering scholarships to the needy but intelligent Ghanaian students nationwide.[ads2]
In health, Mrs Asare Fiagbenu noted that her outfit have invested in over 83 healthcare projects which includes hospitals and healthcare centers, supporting blood banks, construction of wards and maternity blocks and supporting hole in heart patients to undergo surgeries.
For the economic empowerment projects that MTN has invested in since their existence in the country, the affable Asare Fiagbenu said that, “we have invested in 13 economic empowerment projects which includes micro enterprises, youth and women development programmes, donating to the KNUST Telecom Fund, ICT incubations and the Ghana Multimedia incubator centre.”
“We have also pumped monies to the development of four some selected communities. For example, we have provided support for the Trokosi girls in vocational training and Covid-19 support for selected SHSs in the country”, she added.
In her address, Mrs Asare Fiagbenu mentioned that MTN in collaboration with NIA is setting up ten NIA registration points in key regions to support drive the Ghana card registration.
This, she said, is to respond to the growing numbers of Ghanaians thronging NIA’s offices nationwide to register for the Ghana Card, particularly, as the deadline for Sim-Card re-registration approaches.”[ads4]
On the SIM card re-registration, Mrs Fiagbenu stated that to ensure all MTN customers register their SIM cards successfully, her outfit has expanded its customer service network through partnership with local community by putting up additional nine service centres .
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Aside the nine service centres, she emphasised that MTN will deploy staff to register customers at their homes, workplaces, communities, and bus terminals to prevent long queues at its offices and service centres nationwide.
“We’ve put together plans to register our customers which include institutional activation, community activation, towns and markets storms, blitz activation, bus terminals and door-to-door activations”, she said.
She entreated the government to increase the SIM card re-registration awareness campaign as well as prompt processing and issuance of Ghana cards to applicants.
“The SIM card re-registration required more awareness creation, an increase access of registration points, prompt processing and issuance of Ghana card to applicants”, Mrs Fiagbenu concluded…
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