MTN has thrown its weight behind the global campaign by the International Telecommunications Union to encourage more girls and young women to consider careers in the Information and Communications Technology industry.
The company said it recogned that the move was critical to the sustainability of the ICT in Nigeria.
The General Manager, Regulatory Affairs, Oyeronke Oyetunde, said this during the celebration of the ‘International Girls in ICT Day 2017’ organised by eBusiness Life magazine.
Commenting on the theme of this year’s campaign, tagged, ‘Expanding horizons, changing attitudes,’ Oyetunde said the empowerment of the female folk had taken on a new urgency, especially with many countries now forecasting a shortage of skilled ICT professionals within the next ten years.
She said, “This is why it is even more vital that we attract young women into the technology space, which will not only empower them, but also serve as a springboard to overcome cultural and social barriers that may prevent them from accessing life-changing opportunities.
“We need to create these large-scale opportunities if we are to sustain healthy growth rates for the overall benefit of the industry.”
The MTN general manager said, “As a way of incorporating a gender perspective in the implementation of all ITU programmes, MTN as the market leader in Nigeria, is leading the charge to pave the way for more young Nigerian girls to embrace the ICT as a profession and career should they so desire.”
According to her, MTN’s support for the campaign is further motivated by the fact that there is a growing number of women in the company who are doing well in a field that used to be an exclusive male preserve.
“In MTN, we have many women occupying leading, technology-based positions. For instance, Lynda Saint-Nwafor is MTN’s chief enterprise business officer. She manages MTN’s big data technology, which serves as a reliable business enabler and a catalyst for economic development; using customised solutions to help small businesses become bigger, and big businesses to expand and eliminate traditional borders.
“Prior to this role, she was our chief technical officer and in that capacity, she managed the biggest privately-built network infrastructure in Africa.”
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