At Cameroon Digital Week: MTN Cameroon CEO crusades inclusion in digital transformation drive.

While reiterating the commitment of MTN Cameroon to be a leader in Cameroon’s digital drive, Mitawa said, groups such as Persons Living With Disabilities, PLWDs, must not be left behind.

“I cannot conclude a discussion about people without addressing the segments of society that we subconsciously exclude. People living with disabilities are one such segment. We need to build interventions that have them in mind,” she stated. 

The MTN Cameroon boss also said there is need to bridge the gender digital divide. She observed that there are still too few women graduating from tech-related programmes and a lesser number of them, she added, are not part of the tech workforce.

Mitawa declared that: “As operators, it's our duty to ensure that every intervention, whether in capacity building or digital literacy, places a particular emphasis on creating equal opportunities for all”.

The digital journey, she enthused, “is not just about connecting devices, it is about connecting people”. 

Speaking on the topic: “The role of operators in the digital transformation journey in Cameroon”, Mitawa noted that at MTN Cameroon, they have invested so much in infrastructure which is the foundation to access the digital world.

L-R: Prof Jean Emmanuel Pondi, CAMTEL GM, MTN Cameroon boss & Orange CEO

Need to review curricular

Africa, she told the audience, has a youthful population in need for digital skills which tech operators must take up the challenge to build capacities.

The responsibility of operators, she said, is to “ensure that those emerging from formal education possess skills relevant to the industry”. 

Telecoms operators, she explained, need to collaborate with ministries in charge of education “to align school curricula with current and future tech trends. So that when our children graduate, they are even more ready to take on roles in the formal sector”.

Formal education can’t address employment needs

Formal education Mitawa stated, cannot solve the issue of providing jobs for the youth alone.  On this aspect, she called for the support of tech-preneurs, by fostering their growth through talent scouting, competitions, incubation, seed capital investment, and partnerships for growth. 

She stated that while many African countries have significantly narrowed the network coverage gap, only a limited number of people have access to internet.

To address this, she said, “operators can make a significant impact by leveraging the workforce and ecosystem they've built, focusing on locally relevant products to enhance digital literacy and sensitise the population on the benefits of a modern connected life”.

This approach to community education, Mitawa opined, will also allow operators to play an active role in the third and final stream, thus ensuring an inclusive digital drive.

The Cameroon Digital Week it should be said, organised by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication and Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation, CTO.