Vodafone Ghana as part of its commitment to empower women and fight domestic violence, has donated a cheque of GH¢5,000.00 to the Ghana Ark Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation that provides shelter for abused victim.

The donation was in response to the Foundation’s call for support to enable it reopen and run its shelter.

A statement from Vodafone Ghana to the Ghana News Agency explained that the shelter, which had become a safe haven for victims of domestic violence, was closed down in December 2016, due to lack of funds.

Presenting the cheque to the Foundation, Madam Hannah Ashiokai Akrong, the Human Resource Director at Vodafone Ghana, said: “Our commitment to fighting domestic violence goes beyond the walls of our organisation.

“We are particularly interested in the role your Foundation plays in housing and reintegrating victims of domestic abuse especially women and children. A victim’s condition worsens when they continue to stay at the place of violence because they have nowhere else to go,” the statement said.

Madam Akrong according to the statement said at Vodafone, the staff believed domestic violence had a significant impact on people at work, affecting confidence, self-esteem and career progression.

She said that brought about the launching of a Group-wide policy to protect and offer support for victims.

Mrs Angela Dwamena Boakye, the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, who received the cheque, expressed gratitude to Vodafone Ghana for the gesture, the statement said.

“Your commitment to fighting domestic violence is unquestionable. This donation will certainly help in the reopening and running of the shelter, which we had to close down due to lack of funds,” she said.

The statement disclosed that Vodafone as part of its steps to fight domestic violence had set up a 24-hour hotline service, which employees with issues in relation to domestic violence could call for help.

It said employees who had been victimised also had up to 10 days of paid leave in any calendar year for medical appointments, legal proceedings and other related domestic violence activities.

Source: GNA

[caption id="attachment_5622" align="alignnone" width="300"] KASAKA is an interest-bearing savings account that is available to all MTN Mobile Money customers by Barclays Zambia via the JUMO platform. (image: Vanu)[/caption]

MTN Zambia, Barclays Zambia and JUMO have announced the commercial launch of KASAKA – a unique, short term mobile saving product.

This interest-bearing savings account is available to all MTN Mobile Money users through Barclays Zambia. KASAKA, the next step in widening access to financial services for underserved people in Zambia, has been built and run on JUMO’s operating platform. Over 10 000 Zambians have saved more than ZKW 1 600 000 since March 2019.

KASAKA is an interest-bearing savings account that is available to all MTN Mobile Money customers by Barclays Zambia via the JUMO platform and serves as the next step in widening the offering of financial services products to the unserved and underserved population in Zambia.

Barclays Zambia, as the licensed deposit-taking institution, is responsible and accountable to the Bank of Zambia. Interest to the customer will be funded by Barclays Zambia and will handle all treasury management functions. The interactions with the customer and all transactions between the customer wallets and the Barclays Zambia wallet will be managed by the JUMO platform, under instruction from Barclays.

Speaking during the launch, MTN Mobile Money General Manager, Edmund Barwuah noted that this simple, easy to understand and convenient savings product provides the opportunity for the unserved and underserved segments of the Zambian market to access a real-time savings product, driving financial inclusion and encouraging a strong savings culture.”

Barwuah stressed that partnerships between banks and Fintechs are fundamental in the development of relevant financial products with financial inclusion in mind.

“We believe that with close to two million active MTN Mobile Money customers and 30,000 agents, KASAKA will become an important avenue for subscribers to harness the benefits of savings. We consider taking financial services to the previously unbanked a huge responsibility that demands constant innovation and this forms the basis for our long-standing partnership with Barclays Zambia and JUMO.”

And Barclays Bank Zambia Managing Director, Mizinga Melu, noted that these strategic partnerships paired with the adoption and implementation of new technologies is the next step in widening the offering of financial services products to the unserved and underserved population in Zambia.

This product provides an opportunity for the unserved and underserved segments of the Zambian market to access real-time savings. This will drive financial inclusion and encourage a culture of saving in the country.”

James Townsend-Rose, Director of Strategic Partnerships: Africa at JUMO, said “We use cutting-edge technology to build and run financial services because at the core of our business, we’re working to advance financial inclusion. JUMO is excited to be a part of adding savings to the financial choices available to Zambians.”

Source: itnewsafrica.com

Employees of AirtelTigo have donated assorted items, including educational materials, food items and clothes to La Wireless Cluster of Schools in Greater Accra region and the Sekondi School for the Deaf in the Western region through its “Season of Random Kindness” initiative.

The “Season of Random Kindness” is an AirtelTigo staff Corporate Social Responsibility initiative aimed at volunteering and giving back to communities.

Through this initiative, employees of the company support a worthy cause by investing their time and resources to provide essential supplies for schools, hospitals and orphanages.

Education is one of the pillars of AirtelTigo’s CSR programmes, and the provision of educational materials is to help improve academic work in beneficiary schools.

During the presentation at La Wireless Cluster of Schools, the Chief Human Resources Officer at AirtelTigo, Eric Adadevoh, said: “Creating value and improving lives is part of our culture as demonstrated by our staff donations and the time we invest in our communities.”

“We believe that this donation will go a long way in helping the pupils of the school. We see ourselves as development partner’s and the “Season of Random Kindness” will continue to be used as a gesture to impact lives.”

At the Sekondi School for the Deaf, the Commercial Head for Western and Central Regions, Judah Entsua-Mensah lauded the school for nurturing children with disabilities in the region. He encouraged the children to believe in themselves and expressed the hope that the donation would help meet some of the needs of the school.

The heads of both schools expressed their gratitude to AirtelTigo staff for their support and assured that the items would be used for the benefit the students.

Mr. Edward Opoku Manu, the Circuit Supervisor for La Wireless Cluster of School noted: “We are very happy to receive these items from AirtelTigo, we believe that this donation will boost the children’s morale to learn.”

Source: airteltigo.com.gh

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) was tipped to be on the brink of issuing commercial 5G licences, clearing operators to begin deploying services, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The agency quoted MIIT as stating China is ready for a commercial 5G launch, with overseas enterprises including Nokia, Ericsson and Qualcomm deeply involved in the development of the technology.

China’s government granted licences to the country’s three major operators to conduct 5G trials in 2018, however a commercial launch is yet to be approved.

An exact launch date was not announced, but it is expected soon.

MIIT reportedly said China owns “more than 30 per cent of standard essential patents for the technology”, built through a combination of independent innovation and open cooperation on 5G standards.

Launches are expected to provide a major boost to the country’s economy and its technology sector. They would be timely as the country’s major vendors Huawei and ZTE face scrutiny from the US over security.

Ernst & Young predicted China’s three major operators will spend almost $5 billion on 5G-related infrastructure in 2019 alone, with their total spend estimated to hit $217 billion between 2020 and 2025.

While China’s operators were widely expected to deploy commercial 5G services in 2020, launches in the US, South Korea and parts of Europe, including the UK, appear to have spurred regulators to accelerate the schedule.

Source: mobileworldlive