Arthur Mukhuvha (40), General Manager of the MTN South Africa Foundation, is spearheading MTN’s range of digital programmes for young people.
Transform SA catches up with Mukhuvha to find out about his journey to becoming the General Manager of the MTN South Africa Foundation and the initiatives he is leading.
1.Why did you decide to become General Manager of the MTN SA Foundation?
I chose to become the General Manager of the MTN SA Foundation because I’ve always believed in the power of technology to change lives, especially when it’s used to uplift communities and create access where there was none before. This role gives me a unique opportunity to align my passion for social impact with MTN’s mission to enable the benefits of a modern, connected life for all. It’s more than a leadership position, it’s a platform to drive meaningful, long-term change in education, digital skills, and economic empowerment for South Africans who need it most.
2. Why did you choose the CSI industry?
The passion for social change, strong desire to make a meaningful impact and leveraging the business core belief and its key capabilities for positive sustainable social change are some of the reasons why CSI resonates well with me. It affords the opportunity to work with different stakeholders (government, civil societies, private companies) on impactful projects that seeks to improve communities and foster a sense of purpose. Importantly, is really to enhance the organization’s brand reputation, advance positive corporate citizenry, demonstrate social consciousness of the business and contribute to a more ethical and sustainable business practices.
3. What is most fulfilling about your role?
What’s most fulfilling about my role is the opportunity to help fulfil dreams and inspire the next generation of technopreneurs and innovators. Every project brings the chance to spark creativity and develop talent that will drive our country forward and enhance its global competitiveness.
4. At which institutions did you attain these qualifications?
BCom in Accounting and Management Accounting at Wits University, PGDip in Business Admin at Milpark Business School, further completed MBA at Milpark Business School and PGDip in Data Science and Business Analytics at McCombs School of Business, Austin University of Texas.
5. What are some of your previous roles before being General Manager?
- Management Accounting Consultant,
- Senior Accountant and Financial Controller,
- Financial and Sourcing Manager,
- Senior Manager: Financial Operations, Stakeholder Relations, and Governance
6. What programmes are currently being run by the MTN Foundation?
MTN SA Foundation runs ICT initiatives that contribute to education and which support the creation of businesses that are robust, innovative, and able to develop modern, innovative solutions that address South Africa’s social challenges.
Our programmes, which are all free of charge, include:
•MTN Online school platform, which is zero rated for MTN subscribers but accessible to all network users, provides curriculum- designed education to learners from Grade R up to Grade 12, with a strong focus on Grade 10 – 12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.
•MTN Skills Academy, which is an online programme, provides school learners with career guidance and youth with digital and financial training programmes aimed at preparing them for work in high demand digital skills including coding, digital literacy, business and entrepreneurship. The programme provides youth with the right skills to enable them to navigate the ever-changing environment of our economies and be adequately positioned for job opportunities or entrepreneurial avenues in our digital era.
•MTN SA Foundation has invested over 400 multimedia centres in schools, community centres, universities and TVET Colleges. More than just providing access to digital connectivity, these multimedia centres foster a greater sense of hope in communities that historically lacked access to advanced learning tools. We have further trained and equipped the educators on the effective utilisation of technology to supplement the curriculum in the class.
•The in-person Digital Skills for Digital Jobs Programme (DSDJ) trains unemployed youth on digital programmes – Software Development, AI & Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Data Science, etc. – and life and entrepreneurship skills. A total of 742 youth recently graduated from the programme.
•MTN Digital Innovation Challenge in Universities/ TVET colleges, which has produced some of the best modern solutions, by the students, that address strategic sector specific issues in Education, Health, Agriculture, Security and Water Scarcity. We assist the students who have developed innovative solutions to own their intellectual property and provide them with seed funding to start their businesses.
•Financial literacy and entrepreneurial development programme in schools; the programme inspires and educate school-going learners about the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, innovation, financial literacy and the exciting opportunities that exist. The initiative aims to inspire, empower high school learners to take control of their financial futures by shifting their perspectives on money, cultivating entrepreneurial mindsets and equipping them with essential knowledge about money management.
•Additional strategic initiatives includes GBV prevention-related programmes, in which MTN SA Foundation drive strong awareness on GBV, providing technology infrastructures and facilities for affected victims, training and equipping them with digital skills and providing opportunities for self-sustained livelihoods.
7.What have been some of the MTN Foundation’s greatest successes?
In addition to the MTN Digital Innovation Challenge Programme, another one of our greatest successes is our Accelerator Business Development Programme (ABDP). It focuses on SMME enterprise development and saw over 350 SMMEs trained on business principles, access to funding, product design, development and packaging, scaling, diversifying, access to market, Go-To-Market (GTM) strategies and building sustainable products.
We have achieved a survival rate of over 80% post COVID-19 enterprises and 60% of those SMMEs were female-owned enterprises.
Added to this programme, we intentionally bridged the digital gender gaps by further supporting Women Owned Enterprises in Digital Technologies with mentorship, coaching and capacity building in the form of capital investment to accelerate their prospects.
8.What is one of the most inspiring stories to come out of the MTN Foundation?
One that comes to mind is whenMTN installed a multimedia centre with computers, internet connectivity, an interactive whiteboard, data projector, multifunctional printer and specialised software at a school in a deep, rural area of KwaZulu-Natal. It helped a learner there gain knowledge, become more exposed to technology, earn great Matric results and study Civil Engineering. MTN paid for her studies and she now works as a Civil Engineer at a multinational company.
9. What are some of the challenges the foundation has faced?
There are various sector specific challenges that we face, this may include managing stakeholder expectations, limited resources, everchanging economic preferences, lack of collaborations with other corporates and quantifying the return on social investment to justify the financial investment made are significant hurdles. However, as the Foundation, we maintain active collaborations, effective communication, stakeholder engagements to manage expectations and to navigate competing interests and importantly, employing a clearly defined theory of change to measure our social return on programmes implemented. This approach has assisted to manage some of the challenges we face.
