Recognising the need to engage and collaborate to achieve the effective, rapid and comprehensive digital transformation of Africa, MTN Group is a key participant and founding partner of Mobile World Congress (MWC) Africa, which this year is taking place on the continent for the first time.

Called ‘Connectivity Unleashed’, MWC Africa starts in Kigali, Rwanda today and runs until Thursday 27 October. It brings together hundreds of delegates from across the globe, exploring themes such as ‘Leadership for Connectivity’, ‘One People, One Purpose’, ‘Accelerate Africa’ and ‘Fintech’.

“From using 5G to enable digital growth across industries to stepping into the metaverse, we are excited to be building partnerships to solve some of the continent’s many challenges. MWC is a great opportunity for MTN to collaborate with others who want to make the same impact,” says MTN Group President and CEO Ralph Mupita.

Among the topics on which MTN executives will be engaging are: ‘What does Metaverse mean for Africa?’; ‘Progressive policy to accelerate the digital agenda in Africa’; ‘Setting the mobile money agenda for the next generation’; ‘Beyond the smartphone – developing innovative 5G use-cases and applications for Africa’; and ‘Digital transformation to accelerate the African Continental Free Trade Agreement’.

Determined to play our part in building the digital skills that Africa needs for its digital transformation, MTN will launch the MTN Skills Academy on the sidelines of MWC Africa, aiming to develop people across the continent as producers, consumers and innovators of digital technologies. This is part of our work to build digital skills for digital jobs, through which we will upskill the continent’s most valuable asset – its people – to help close the jobs gap in a sustainable and measurable way. Investing in digital capabilities of citizens underpinned by both technological and human capacity offers the most robust approach for the future. This is aligned to MTN’s Ambition 2025 strategy: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress.