Archives: Case Studies
If you want to see what the digital divide looks like, look at the children.
There are children who seem to be born with an iPad in their hands, and there are those who will not have access to a computer until they reach a certain grade at school. Both groups will grow up in a digital world, and both groups have a great chance of thriving in the digital world if they are provided with the skills, tools and mentoring required to become great at anything.
By investing in the digital education of children in Africa and the Middle East, we are levelling the playing field and preparing our youth to become innovators in the digital world.
How is a student meant to excel in a digital world when they have limited or zero access to computers and connectivity?
This is why part of MTN’s CSI funds are used to equip educational institutions with the digital tools needed to advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of advancing the quality of education (UN SDG 4).
In Benin, where access to textbooks is limited, the MTN Benin Foundation created 50 digital classes for 50 schools. Digital literacy training was provided to the facilitators managing the classes, along with a donation of 1000 laptops and the necessary connectivity. Now, more than 15 000 students and 100 teachers have access to the learning materials required for a good education.
E-libraries, online journals and other digital learning and research materials not only fill the gap where physical books are lacking, they also give learners the opportunity to make technology the foundation of their education. Other initiatives include the donation of a digital library to an orphanage in Afghanistan, where 200 children now have access to 3000 e-books. In Ghana, MTN donated an ICT centre for university students who required online research materials. The centre benefits 10 000 learners and the lecturers at the university. Over the years, we have established more than 925 computer labs and ICT facilities, because we believe that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern connected life.
MTN Ghana constructed a 24 unit classroom block which benefits 10 000 learners every year.
There is no point in introducing a school to computers when the school’s classrooms are dilapidated, so MTN first ensures that those without the basics get the help they need. Through a programme MTN established called Y’ello Schools, the MTN Cameroon Foundation has constructed 31 classrooms, and installed 16 potable water points, to improve the learning conditions of at least 16 400 students and 154 teachers. In Uganda, partnering with an initiative called Promoting Equality in African Schools, the Foundation has played a major role in constructing 10 schools.
By donating and installing smart boards in schools and computers in media centres, children in Africa get the chance to innovate just like those in developed countries. By working together, we are levelling the playing field, so that learners in Africa have the foundation required to innovate and bring real transformation to the continent.
In Africa, we want to be part of the creation of a digital world, where technology underpins everything we do.
To get there, we start by finding ways to overcome our own unique challenges. Where stumbling blocks are too high, we weave a path around them. We get there, but our route is different to the route the rest of the world takes. The African approach to going digital can be seen in the way we handle healthcare.
The African approach to going digital can be seen in the way we handle healthcare.
It is no secret that medical care in Africa is not as accessible as it is on neighbouring continents. It is also no secret that Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Our approach to going digital is mobile, because mobile works for us. According to the GSMA’s 2019 report on the Mobile Economy of Sub-Saharan Africa, half of the population will subscribe to mobile services by 2025. For this reason, we implement and support digitally-driven healthcare initiatives as part of our contribution towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of achieving good health and well-being. Part of the R1 Billion MTN has invested in various CSI initiatives since 2001 goes toward making mobile healthcare in Africa possible.
In Cameroon, for example, a solution was required to reduce the time it takes to diagnose HIV in new-born babies. Early infant diagnosis is crucial to the success of treatment for babies born with HIV. The MTN Cameroon Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative worked together to create the SMS Printer for Life project. The solution ensures that results are delivered on the same day as the test, by transmitting information between laboratories and health facilities instantly. MTN’s coverage in Cameroon enables the connectivity for results to be sent via text message to a printer at a clinic, and to the phones of the infants’ caregivers. HIV positive babies can therefore be enrolled in a treatment program as soon as possible. Since the initiative was launched, more than 11 800 lab results have been delivered and 700 healthcare facilities in the country currently use the solution.
Approximately 10,000 nursing students have benefited from 10 multimedia centres in South Africa.
As technology continues to make a positive impact on the medical field, it becomes essential for those working in healthcare to be digitally savvy. In South Africa, MTN piloted a programme at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital to provide digital tools to nurses in training. Since the programme began in 2014, 10 multimedia centres have been installed at nurse training institutions. These multimedia centres feature computers and printers, smart boards and internet connections, and has benefited approximately 10 000 nursing students. The students now have access to online learning materials which would otherwise have been difficult, and sometimes impossible, to come by.
Lecturers and students are also provided with computer literacy training, so that everyone at the institution can benefit. Lecturers are now taking a digital approach to updating curricula and teaching resources, as well as conducting research and grading student assessments. The digitization of the work has made a great impact on the student nurses, so much so that the institution’s pass rate has gone from below 65% to 94% in the years that MTN has become involved in their digital needs.
By taking a digital approach to healthcare challenges in Africa, we are working toward making the continent’s population healthier, so that they can become unstoppable!
In Africa, we want to be part of the creation of a digital world, where technology underpins everything we do.
To get there, we start by finding ways to overcome our own unique challenges. Where stumbling blocks are too high, we weave a path around them. We get there, but our route is different to the route the rest of the world takes. The African approach to going digital can be seen in the way we handle healthcare.
The African approach to going digital can be seen in the way we handle healthcare.
It is no secret that medical care in Africa is not as accessible as it is on neighbouring continents. It is also no secret that Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Our approach to going digital is mobile, because mobile works for us. According to the GSMA’s 2019 report on the Mobile Economy of Sub-Saharan Africa, half of the population will subscribe to mobile services by 2025. For this reason, we implement and support digitally-driven healthcare initiatives as part of our contribution towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of achieving good health and well-being. Part of the R1 Billion MTN has invested in various CSI initiatives since 2001 goes toward making mobile healthcare in Africa possible.
In Cameroon, for example, a solution was required to reduce the time it takes to diagnose HIV in new-born babies. Early infant diagnosis is crucial to the success of treatment for babies born with HIV. The MTN Cameroon Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative worked together to create the SMS Printer for Life project. The solution ensures that results are delivered on the same day as the test, by transmitting information between laboratories and health facilities instantly. MTN’s coverage in Cameroon enables the connectivity for results to be sent via text message to a printer at a clinic, and to the phones of the infants’ caregivers. HIV positive babies can therefore be enrolled in a treatment program as soon as possible. Since the initiative was launched, more than 11 800 lab results have been delivered and 700 healthcare facilities in the country currently use the solution.
Approximately 10,000 nursing students have benefited from 10 multimedia centres in South Africa.
As technology continues to make a positive impact on the medical field, it becomes essential for those working in healthcare to be digitally savvy. In South Africa, MTN piloted a programme at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital to provide digital tools to nurses in training. Since the programme began in 2014, 10 multimedia centres have been installed at nurse training institutions. These multimedia centres feature computers and printers, smart boards and internet connections, and has benefited approximately 10 000 nursing students. The students now have access to online learning materials which would otherwise have been difficult, and sometimes impossible, to come by.
Lecturers and students are also provided with computer literacy training, so that everyone at the institution can benefit. Lecturers are now taking a digital approach to updating curricula and teaching resources, as well as conducting research and grading student assessments. The digitization of the work has made a great impact on the student nurses, so much so that the institution’s pass rate has gone from below 65% to 94% in the years that MTN has become involved in their digital needs.
By taking a digital approach to healthcare challenges in Africa, we are working toward making the continent’s population healthier, so that they can become unstoppable!