MTN awards 145 scholarships to telecoms students

MTN Cameroon awarded excellence scholarships to 145 students of the National Advanced School of Post and Telecommunications (ENSPT) and the National Advance School of Engineering (ENSP) on Wednesday.

The scholarships were presented in Yaounde during twin ceremonies jointly chaired by Maurice Aurélien SOSSO, the rector of the University of Yaounde I, Jean-Marie Dongo, the director of ENSPT and Victor OBEN, General Manager, Human Resources and Administration of MTN Cameroon.

“Beyond our core business, we want to affirm ourselves as a corporate citizen by boosting our social responsibility policy,” said Oben. “And this, we are accomplishing through supporting to improve the living standards of our communities.”

MTN has separate partnership agreements with both state-run institutions, which produce students destined for the telecoms sector in Cameroon.

“We believe that, our partnership with ENSP and ENSPT which embodies our effort and innovation, contributes to enhance the performance of students,” Oben said.

“At MTN Cameroon, we promote local talents, and have implemented the most successful policy on the nationalization of our senior executives, who, for the most part, are graduates from Cameroonian higher institutions of learning such as ENSP and ENSPT.”

The scholarship scheme seeks to promote excellence in the teaching of science and technologies in Cameroon as well as promote local talent, the company said.

“Since excellence demands full commitment, the MTN scholarships seek to create optimum learning conditions given the unavoidable principle by which we have to accept that, excellence means being exceptional,” Oben said.

“This principle of excellence must be transmitted in our schools; we have to further consolidate in our students, the unshakable values of merit, effort and effective work which constitute the bases for success and professional advancement. “Therefore, we have decided to invest in the youth, in a human accomplishment project, to support the effort made by the State as far as scholarship grants are concerned.”

Since its incorporation in 2,000, MTN Cameroon says it practices a policy of nationalization and development of local talent. Out of close to 1,000 only three of the company’s employees are non-nationals.

“Young Cameroonians recruited by MTN find an environment where they can be empowered to express their talent and grow.” Oben said. “Some of them have climbed the corporate ladder within the MTN Group and have been called upon to occupy positions of authority in other operations such as Congo, Ivory Coast, Benin, Guinea, Iran, and Group headquarters in South Africa.”