Communications Minister Visits Airtel Ghana; Commends Company For Sustainably Impacting Lives Through Its Operations

The Minister of Communications, Hon Ursula Owusu-Ekuful paid a working visit to the offices of Airtel Ghana – the Smartphone Network – to interact with the Executive Management team and acquaint herself with the operations of the Changemaker Company.

The Minister, who was accompanied by her two deputies – Hon George Andah, Hon Vincent Sowah Odotei and the Director of Finance at the Ministry – Mr. K Tabi. The delegation highly commended Airtel Ghana for sustainably impacting the lives of Ghanaians through the company’s operations and community investment initiatives. The delegation met with Airtel Ghana’s Managing Director, Lucy Quist and her executive management team and later toured the company’s Data Center.

The leadership team of Airtel engaged the Minister and her delegation on the company’s operations, superior customer offerings across voice, enterprise, mobile finance and community investment initiatives.

Superior product and services – voice, enterprise, mobile finance and data services.

Airtel Business, the end-to-end enterprise sub brand of the company provides tailored communication, connectivity and collaborative solutions for thousands of businesses across the country from large multinationals to SMEs in different sectors of the economy. During the 2016 elections, Airtel Business provided connectivity solutions for over 3,000 polling stations and 85 constituency collations centers in 3 regions.

Airtel’s Data Business, adjudged Best Data and Internet Service Provider, leads the telecom industry in data and digital innovation and in the promotion of digital inclusion in the country. Airtel was the first to introduce free Facebook and provided access to over 40 zero rated sites for its customers. The company also introduced Bundles on Facebook to enable customers purchase data bundles when they need it most.

Airtel Money, an ISO certified mobile finance platform, is the most convenient and safest way to transact electronically – bill payments, online shopping and money transfers. Airtel has partnered with over 60 financial institution to support the government and Bank of Ghana’s cash-light agenda as well as promote financial inclusion for Ghanaians outside the formal banking system, supporting the livelihoods of thousands of agents across the country.

Impacting lives through community investment

Airtel Ghana’s community investment programme which covers education, sports, community development and youth empowerment has over the years impacted the lives of thousands of Ghanaians. Through the flagship Airtel Touching Lives, many Ghanaians have been empowered to create positive impact in their communities.

Airtel Rising Stars remains the most robust grassroots football talent discovery initiative that nurtures talented young footballers and put them on the national and global stage.

Through the School Adoption and Evolve with STEM initiatives, Airtel invests in infrastructure such as classroom blocks, libraries and ICT centers for several schools across the country. Evolve with STEM empowers and encourages pupils in state schools to embrace Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics through mentorship sessions and the establishment of STEM clubs.

Lucy Quist calls for enabling regulatory environment

Airtel Ghana’s CEO, Lucy Quist thanked the Minister and her entourage for visiting the company and requested for a streamlined regulatory environment to promote the growth of the industry. She said “We would like to see a streamlined regulatory environment that enables investment and fosters growth of the industry. The telecom industry plays a critical role in the economy – impacting and contributing to the growth of every other sector of the economy. As a company, we are committed to providing superior voice, data, enterprise and mobile finance services to all our customers”.

She also spoke to the need for local content in telecom equipment manufacturing. She said “The biggest constituent of investments in the industry in Ghana, and across Africa, is network infrastructure and telecom equipment yet almost every single component is imported. Policies that encourage and promotes local content in telecom equipment production will go a long way to create jobs and develop local capabilities”.

Minister commends Airtel Ghana
The Minister commended Airtel Ghana for impacting lives through its operations, for leading the pack in promoting digital and financial inclusion and for being a force for good.

She reiterated her commitment to support the company and the industry by creating an enabling environment for telecom companies to thrive. She indicated her resolve to look into policies in support of local content in the production of telecom equipment as part of government’s commitment to create jobs in the country. .

About Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 359 million customers across its operations at the end of July 2016. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

About Airtel in Africa
Airtel is driven by the vision of providing affordable and innovative mobile services to all. Airtel has 17 operations in Africa: Burkina Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Airtel International is a Bharti Airtel company. For more information, please visit www.airtel.com, or ‘like’ the Airtel Ghana Facebook page via www.facebook.com/airtelgh or follow us on Twitter via the handle @airtelghana.