Okoh Aihe and Miebi Senge
8 September 2008
interview
We needed to hear from MTN what informed the MTN Foundation and its Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, philosophy.
Executive Director MTN Foundation and Corporate Services Executive, Amina Oyagbola did not disappoint in providing answers to questions from Okoh Aihe and Miebi Senge.
IT is believed generally that the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) came to the public glare after MTN Nigeria launched the Foundation. It actually had been with us, but never assumed any importance until now. So what happened?
So far, the concept of philanthropy or giving back to the community where we operate is part of the MTN Group philosophy and the whole thing as you may be aware started in South Africa. MTN Group started its operations in South Africa and today, MTN has 21 operations across Africa, Middle East and Asia. The MTN philosophy is that every single operating unit in any part of the world where it operates must take an interest in the social aspect of life and must invest in those communities that are the reasons for the existence of MTN as an entity and that makes it possible for MTN to be successful. So that is where it all started from.
But I'd like to say that here in Nigeria we have really raised the bar in terms of CSR and I must also proudly say to you that the unique concept and model that we have been able to put together over the last four years is what is now being replicated throughout the group and MTN Nigeria is becoming the company of excellence in terms of how we deploy our own CSR strategy.
Our deployment is based on a four pronged approach in terms of social responsibility acts which we believe is sustainable. To satisfy our desire to help reduce or alleviate poverty in Nigeria and to empower the people in the communities around us because there is no joy in one person standing and being successful. You cannot enjoy that success if you are alone.
The beauty of a good and vibrant society is one where inequalities are removed and the gaps between the haves and have-nots are narrowed down such that the person at the base of the ladder has the necessities of basic minimum level of existence. What are the basic things of human existence? Shelter, food, education of their children, medical; having the basic amenities that we all want to enjoy like water, good roads, decent transportation and electricity so that we can get on with our lives.
These things should be a right that everybody should get. So at MTN we devise our own unique model which I told you is four prong and it promotes these elements: one it promotes good corporate governance. How do you run your business? Are you an ethical business? Are you 100 per cent tax compliant or are you avoiding or evading taxation? Because you are doing that you cannot say you're a good corporate citizen. It is the funds the government received from taxation that enables the various tiers of government to meet their obligations to the citizens like educational challenges, health, the infrastructure challenges, amongst others.
So how can you say you are a good corporate citizen if you are short changing the government in terms of payment of taxes? We are a 100 per cent tax compliant and we try to run our business ethically. It means that we are transparent in our processes. It means that if we are dealing with our supplies, we deal with them on a transparent process by declaring a bidding process where everybody is given a level playing field to bid for the available job. We treat our employees fairly.
The second element is adding value to society. The manner in which we deploy the core business in MTN. The business that we deploy is information communications technology (ICT) and in doing this, we enable people. You connect it and enable people to communicate. By so doing we're taking services to communities where none existed previously. It means you are thereby opening up those communities. It means you are providing people with freedom. It means you are empowering those people.
Because if there is connectivity and communication both in terms of voice, (GSM) in terms of internet access, basically you are taking a remote village that was in a sense in darkness and bringing it into light; bringing it into the global community because if there is internet connectivity available to an individual, it means that person can now connect to any part of the world.
It the person has access to telephone with IDD facility, it means that that person can speak to his relation in America, just any part of the globe. So connecting people through ICT deployment and in that process igniting the economy. Because MTN came to this environment several other telecom companies also came along. Several other PTOs also came along. And because telecom companies came to Nigeria, the banking sector is now more vibrant than it used to be; the marketing and advertising sector is more alive today. Look at the kind of adverts you see today, the quality and standards have been elevated and more employment opportunities created.
Because telecom came, the whole distribution channels have changed. Just in telecom alone, both direct dealers, sub-dealers and so forth. So much employment has been created and it has even influence the consumer movement sector in terms of the deployment of the wholesale and retail channels of telecommunications.
Because telecom came, several businesses are now more vibrant because they are able to communicate via telephone instead of putting somebody in a taxi to take words across. And because telecom came, even the media now reports better because you can do on the spot report. You take a photograph with your phone and communicate immediately. So it has really enhanced and elevated the nature of businesses and the way business is done.
And with 3G deployment, we are now going to another level with all the data services that are coming out, we going into another level in terms of really adding concrete values to the economy. Not just by saying with the deployment of the services, but also in terms of direct correlation between the deployment of those services and GDP growth.
It has been proved that there is a direct correlation between the two, so we are very happy that we are in a business of contributing directly to national development.
The third element is what I would describe as corporate social investment, (CSI) - putting all the work that we do under the umbrella of the MTN Foundation. The Foundation being the vehicle through which MTN deploys its corporate social investment. It also concentrated on different kinds of philanthropy: you can give people cash, you make donations. The MTN Foundation concentrates on projects - identifying concrete projects. We call it CSI because they are projects that must have a sustainability plan and they are long term projects we believe would survive over time. Which will empower people, enable people, enable them to stand on their own and enable them to help others; and we do this in three areas - education, health and economic empowerment sectors.
And the number four element which we have just introduced into the Nigerian landscape, which is very, very unique and revolutionary (again, a product of the Group's initiative) called the 21 Days of Y'ello Care. This has become a feature of the MTN annual calendar and again, it is something MTN operation discharges throughout its 21 countries of operation.
What is 21 Days of Y'ello Care? 21 Days of Y'ello Care is essentially an initiative that promotes volunteerism among staff. When it kicked-off last year, (2007) we said for a period of 21 days, all staff of MTN Nigeria, wherever they maybe located across the country should identify community spirited programmes and projects that they all must discharge. At the head office here, a project manager has been appointed to deploy this programme. And MTN as a business dedicates millions of Naira towards ensuring that those programmes are ones that impact positively on the immediate community around it. So last year we had various programmes around it like teaching, cleaning the environment and several others.
This year we had two segments. One is Business Transformer, which is aimed at empowering operators in the small and medium enterprise sectors. The other one is called iCare. This is about visiting orphanages, old people's homes, meeting the weak and helping them out as best as we can. And of course, we have an environmental related project.
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