MTN Foundation
We’re in the business of making lives brighter for our customers and for the communities where we live and do business. To do this, we know that we must work with our communities to build lasting solutions together. So, we listen.
We commit our expertise and resources to the 3 key areas of Mother and Child, Youth Empowerment and Arts and Culture. Through these causes, we believe we can make the most difference and encourage our employees to participate in whatever way they can.
Click HERE to read about most of our interventions in the country.
Real Stories
Edith Onodugo
MTNF Rural Telephony Entrepreneur Enugu,
Enugu State
There’s something about Edith…
Edith Onodugo has always been a lady with a plan. You can see it in her eyes; warm and curious, they sparkle with confidence and a lively intelligence. Growing up in Enugu, the quintessential ‘civil service state’, Edith initially decided to pursue a degree in public administration and paid for her schooling by opening up a small hair salon. At the end of her studies, she had decided on a different path to success, she wanted to be self-employed – to own a business of her own – but the proceeds from the salon were not enough. She had to think of another way to earn more money. One day, she heard about Ogene, a Microfinance institution that provided loans to entrepreneurs and small business owners and decided to apply for a loan. She was introduced to the MTNF Rural Telephony Project by a pilot phase participant who showed her the ropes. 1 phone, 1 umbrella, 1 table and 1 chair in front of her old salon – that was all it took to start up the business.
Business boomed and Edith opened up another, and another, and yet another, employing more people to manage these branches. Her tenacity was noticed by Ogene and they called her in to help train more entrepreneurs, empowering more women to start their own businesses.
MTNF Rural Telephone Project
The MTNF Rural Telephone Project (MTNF – RTP) successfully empowered over 4500 men and women in 28 states across Nigeria including the FCT, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Enugu, Ekiti, Jigawa, Kano, Kaduna, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Nasarawa, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Plateau, Ogun, Rivers, Cross River, Taraba, Yobe, Lagos, Imo, Ebonyi & Abia.
Project Partner – Growing Businesses Foundation
Maria Eyo Okon and her children;
Beneficiaries; MTNF Children at Risk Empowerment Scheme (CARES) Project
Calabar, Cross River State
Maria Eyo Okon and her children have been through a lot; traumatized and abandoned, they were left with limited means to take care of themselves. Maria is happy now that the smiles on the faces of her children leave no traces of the past.
Challenged to take care of her family on her own, life was very tough indeed. She could not cope with the burden of handling their feeding and their fees, so when she heard about the MTNF CARES Project, she did not hesitate to ask for help.
From food items, school learning materials and lesson fees to camping trips to teach communication and morals, MTNF supported Maria, checking in regularly to make sure the family was okay. Just when it looked like things were getting better, one of her daughters found a lump in her breast and for Maria, it felt like the walls were crashing down again, but the Foundation provided the funds for an operation and it was successful.
Her children say they want to be Doctors and Engineers so they can help the community, Maria smiles at this, she is proud of the people they are growing to be.
MTNF CARES Project
The MTNF CARES initiative was designed to provide integrated care and support (i.e. educational, nutritional and psychosocial support) for over 600 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Lagos, Kogi, Sokoto, Gombe, Imo and Cross River States in addition to an institutional resource center for street children in Jos, Plateau State.
Project Partner – HOPE Worldwide Nigeria
Victoria Adesina
Principal, Demonstration School for Deaf Children
Kaduna, Kaduna State
As a little girl, Victoria Adesina lived in the same building with a young, deaf boy. She remembers being the only one who could guess what he wanted or did not want, but this was before he went away to school. It was a school for the deaf established by missionaries, and when he came back he could not only communicate in sign language, he could also write.
She is fascinated by sign language, a language more universal than English, and she concerns herself with the welfare of the deaf. According to her, deafness is a hidden handicap because it is not as easily identifiable as blindness or lameness. A taxi driver honks his horn and hits a child because he thinks the child is stubborn as he doesn’t know the child is deaf. The deaf are expected to cope with everyday life as we assume they are normal because we cannot see their plight.
When the MTN Foundation was approached for help, they set up an MTNF SchoolsConnect lab and installed 14 computers, VSAT equipment, a Projector, Printer, Generator and Air Conditioners at the school to support the education and empowerment of deaf children.
In addition, a special software suitable for people with special needs was installed and training was administered by experts in that area.
Parents of deaf children cannot afford the N50, 000 a term fee, so they pay what they can. This means the school depends solely on donations and supports from individuals and organizations like MTNF to keep it going.
Isa Ibrahim
MTNF Science and Technology Scholarship recipient; Ahmadu Bello University
Zaria, Kaduna State
Isa Ibrahim’s drive to succeed is first thing you notice when you listen to him speak. The 20th child of a large family, his struggling father could only pray that his children would find the help they needed to be the people they wanted to be. Isa fell in love with computers while in secondary school and he dreamt of the day he would get into the university to study Information Technology.
When the MTNF Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme was publicized, he applied and was shortlisted for the aptitude test. Luckily, he was chosen to be a recipient of the scholarship and went on to win the scholarship a second time, having maintained a CGP of 3.5 and above.
Isa believes that technology is necessary for development and good students with IT knowledge can take the country to another level. This is his current dream, to succeed in honing his skills and be a part of Nigeria’s development using the knowledge he has acquired.
MTNF Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme
MTNF provides annual scholarships to Science and Technology students in public tertiary institutions. The scholarships are worth N200, 000 each, to cover tuition, book allowance and stipend for one academic year. They are renewed annually depending on academic performance and other set criteria. New entrants are also accepted annually once they apply and pass a special assessment test.
Project Partner – After School Graduate Development Centre