The Senior Management Team of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) has paid a courtesy call on the CEO and Senior Management Team of MTN Ghana, in a bid to deepen the relations between the two organisations.

It is also to introduce GIFEC’s new Administrator and Deputy Administrator, as well as discuss ideas on how to improve collaboration between the two organisations.

A statement issued in Accra by the Fund said Mr Prince Sefah, the Administrator of the Fund briefed the meeting about some strategic objectives he had pursued to strengthen GIFEC, since his appointment, to ensure the sustainability and effective delivery of the Agency’s core programmes and projects, and ability to meet its growing mandate.

He said there was the need for more strategic partnerships with public and private stakeholders, an effective sustainability and maintenance culture, gathering and utilizing more data and analytics about GIFEC’s operations, improvement of the human resource makeup and utilization of GIFEC and more effective communication of the work of GIFEC to stakeholders.

The Administrator acknowledged the importance of MTN’s partnership and support to the Agency, especially on projects like the flagship Ghana Rural Telephony and Digital Inclusion Project (GRT&DIP) and the Girls in ICT initiative.

“The GRT&DIP, which seeks to build 2,016 communication sites, has so far built 758 sites, with 329 on Air,” he added. He, however, recounted some operational challenges and called for more support from MTN for the successful implementation of the project.

Mr Selorm Adadevoh, CEO of MTN Ghana admitted the impactful interventions of GIFEC and how its efforts had been tremendous to the Information and Communication Technology eco-system.

He said as a stakeholder in the field, it was imperative that collaboration be increased, to ensure Access and Digital Inclusion for all.

The CEO also pledged MTN’s continued support for the activities of GIFEC and the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, and the adoption of advanced solutions, hinging on the company’s moral obligation towards expanding connectivity.

Both parties committed to more stakeholder consultation for the successful execution of the GRT&DIP.