Samuel Koranteng, Corporate Services Executive of MTN Ghana
Twenty-two (22) students from the Volta Region who are in public tertiary institutions in the country have benefitted from a three-year full scholarship programme from the leading telecommunications network in Ghana, MTN.
The scholarship programme dubbed ‘MTN Bright Scholarship Award Project’ is expected to provide scholarship for 300 brilliant, needy tertiary students for three years.
Out of the first set of 100 beneficiaries awarded for this year, 22 were from the Volta Region, the Corporate Services Executive of MTN Ghana, Mr. Samuel Koranteng announced. He said another batch of 100 will be selected for next year and the years ahead to make the 300 target.
Mr. Koranteng who was speaking at a forum with editors in the Volta Region recently disclosed that the 22, like all other beneficiaries, would have their tuition fees and accommodation taken care of. They would also get a stipend of GH¢500 per semester which caters for books and other learning materials till they complete.
Touching on the performance of the company’s Initial Public Offer (IPO) which commenced on March 29 and closed on July 31 this year, he said the IPO was a success as it was the first Telco in the country to have been listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
He said although the GH¢3.4 billion shares target for 35 per cent of the company was not met, the GH¢1.1 billion shares bought exceeds the minimum performance limit on the GSE with over 127,000 Ghanaians subscribers and 326 non-Ghanaians, representing about 99.7 per cent Ghanaians as against 0.3 per cent non-Ghanaians. Out of the GH¢1.1 billion raised, Ghanaians contributed about 39 per cent while the non-Ghanaians contributed about 61 per cent.
The Zonal Manager for MTN Mobile Money (Momo), Mr. Eric Yeboah Asiamah, urged customers to be alert of fraudsters and desist from giving out details or performing suspicious transactions without verifying with the customer care. He said the prompt verification and suspicious numbers help in apprehending fraudsters.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr. Archibald Letsa, who interacted with the MTN team, was elated that the region has recorded about 6,000 MTN Mobile Money agents, which he said is a form of job creation.
He, however, expressed worry about the incessant call drops during festive occasions and poor network coverage in some rural areas in the region and urged them to remedy them.
The team assured the minister and residents in the region that they were working with Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications and Huawei to extend mobile connectivity to rural areas.
From Fred Duodu, Ho (k.duodu@yahoo.com)