MTN Nigeria Partners CNN to Boost Business Enterprise in Africa

Telecom company, MTN Nigeria, has partnered CNN International’s multi-platform initiative tagged ‘Africa View’ as commercial partners with the aim of inspiring growth and business development in Africa.

The ‘Africa View’ vignette series airs within CNN’s flagship news and current affairs programme ‘Connect the World with Becky Anderson’. The series provides background and context to trends, figures and initiatives shaping the African continent. Dynamic, entertaining, modern and inspirational in style, the insert showcases topics and influential sectors driving African countries; from education and energy to technology and innovation.

The programme, which is largely driven by MTN, will be featured on primetime CNN programmes such as Inside Africa, Africa Startups, African Voices and Market Place Africa and will tell the story of Africa’s diversity, dynamism and role on the global stage.

As part of activities to launch the partnership in Nigeria, MTN Nigeria and CNN jointly hosted a special forum which held at The Wheat Baker Hotel, Lagos. The forum featured seasoned panelists and discussants in the Nigerian technology and business industry.

Prominent among the panellists were: Political Economy and Management Expert, Pat Utomi, CEO, MTN Nigeria, Mike Ikpoki and Chief Enterprise Officer for MTN Group, Mteto Nyati. The forum was well attended by corporate and SME customers, major industry stakeholders (internal and external) as well as media representatives.

Speaking on the partnership initiative, Mr. Ikpoki said the partnership is an enterprise initiative by MTN Nigeria to showcase the socio-economic development and achievements of Nigerians and other Africans across the world.

“MTN is proud to partner CNN International on Africa View to showcase the developments and achievements of Africans across the globe as well as Africa’s socio-economic progress. We are especially excited about this partnership because it provides our business the opportunity to create awareness about our service offerings and showcase MTN Business as the ICT partner of choice for new and expanding enterprises while not neglecting MTN’s pivotal role as a major enabler for digital inclusion in Africa” Mr. Ikpoki said.

Commenting further on the advantage of MTN enterprise initiative as reflected in this new partnership with CNN, Mteto Nyati, MTN Group Chief Enterprise Officer, said that “MTN is passionate about developing SMEs and providing digital solutions to businesses around the continent. We feel privileged to partner with CNN to tell stories about how the African continent is taking part in the data revolution. With the MTN Business platform which is currently available in 19 countries, we have been able to provide business support to all our customers and ensure the continued growth of their businesses, transcending the African continent and impacting on the global economy.”

Other highlights of the partnership include the launch of a modified CNN/MTN app which will feature CNN Africa Headlines, African Indices, CNN VOD and Africa View. The app will also have a user engagement section where consumers will have access to a dedicated news app for ‘Africa View’, when it is launched later in 2015.

MTN Nigeria is part of the MTN Group, Africa’s leading cellular telecommunications company. On May 16, 2001, MTN became the first GSM network to make a call following the globally lauded Nigerian GSM auction conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission earlier in the year. Thereafter the company launched full commercial operations beginning with Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.

Since launch in August 2001, MTN has steadily deployed its services across Nigeria. It now provides services in 223 cities and towns, more than 10,000 villages and communities and a growing number of highways across the country, spanning the 36 states of the Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Many of these villages and communities are being connected to the world of telecommunications for the first time ever.