In a unique public/private partnership, MTN Group, Africa’s leading mobile network, on Wednesday 27th January, announced a donation of US$25 million to support the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.
The donation will help secure up to seven million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine for health workers across the continent, which will contribute to the vaccination initiative of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC).
“The devastating impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and profound. Public and private partnerships are needed if we are to succeed in the fight against the pandemic and restore social and economic norms for our continent and our communities,” said Ralph Mupita, President and Chief Executive Officer of MTN Group.
This initiative addressing AU member nations will also include Rwanda. Commenting on this development, Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr Daniel Ngamije said, “MTN’s initiative to support the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccination program is highly commendable. With a pandemic at our heels and a financial gap that set our health equity efforts to a huge challenge, time for public-private partnerships is now. I believe this will trigger more partnerships to blossom from other African private sector groups and make the vaccines even more accessible on the African continent.”
Also, MTN Rwanda has locally since the beginning of the pandemic, made various contributions in the fight against COVID-19. While the sourcing of vaccines is under way, MTN Rwanda today further announced that it has contributed an additional 50 million Rwandan francs to support the continued fight against COVID-19. The contribution made through the RBC, is specifically going toward the purchase of oxygen concentration monitoring equipment in Rwanda.
“We are proud to be part of the MTN Group, that stands with Africa in this fight. MTN Rwanda has also made various local contributions toward the fight against COVID-19 in the past year, but we recognize that the fight is not yet over. We continue to brainstorm on how we can support our community as we weather this storm together. As preventive measures continue to be emphasized, we felt it important to also contribute to increase the number of oxygen concentration monitoring tools, as we await the vaccine” said Mitwa Ng’ambi, MTN Rwanda CEO.
Speaking about this contribution that MTN Rwanda has made locally, Director General of Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Dr Sabin Nsanzimana said, “We are grateful to MTN Rwanda for meaningfully contributing to our efforts in responding to COVID-19. As we grow capacity in oxygen concentration monitoring in our treatment centres, timely actions are taken and more lives are saved.”
In addition, MTN Rwanda has committed to continue its support of free communication among the COVID taskforce as well as the use of its communication channels for awareness within the communities.
“Our support will continue to evolve as the situation with the pandemic evolves too. We are committed to walking the distance with our valued communities of whom our customers form a great part,” concluded Ng’ambi.
MTN Rwandacell Limited is the market leader in mobile telecommunications in Rwanda. Since 1998, MTN Rwanda has continuously invested in expanding and modernising his network and is now the country’s No 1 internet network. MTN Rwanda offers various superior services to subscribers, including innovative propositions such as personalised voice and data offers with MTN Irekure. The company is also the front runner in mobile financial services in Rwanda with Mobile Money, MoMoPay and MoKash Loans and Savings. (End)