Giant telecommunications company MTN Nigeria has pledged to dedicate 70 percent of the telco’s staff recruitment and promotion to women in order to achieve its goal of gender equality by 2030.
This disclosure was made by MTN’s Chief Executive Officer officer Karl Toriola during the company’s official public signing ceremony of the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles (UNWEPs).
MTN CEO said,
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“We do this through a deliberate action and we are thinking on a principle that any recruitment and promotion that happen in the company, we are going to do our best to reserve up to 70 percent for women. Because we have calculated that to meet our commitment at achieving gender equality by 2030, we have to consciously be reserving posts with those numbers every year in that direction, or else we won’t hit that target.”
He further added that MTN will use its position as one of Nigeria’s largest companies to influence other companies to do the same in bridging the gender divide in organizations.
Toriola said that the company’s statement of support for the women empowerment program was that, as a business and as a part of the MTN Group, it is committed to its vision of diversity and inclusion, to be the most inclusive and successful organization across Africa and the Middle East, putting diversity into action to help employees, customers, and communities to thrive.
Also speaking during the ceremony is the Senior Country Manager for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Mr. Kalim M. Shah who stated that Nigeria’s economy would expand by 58 percent if the country would attain gender equality in its workforce as shown by the World Bank.
He said,
“If Nigeria could reduce gender inequality, its gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by an additional 58 percent. Research shows that societies with more gender equality tend to be more resilient, and organizations that reduce barriers to women in the workplace grow more quickly. Conversely, organizations that fail to address gender gaps risk getting left behind”.
“For these reasons, through our investment and advisory expertise, IFC supports companies to promote women’s advancement as leaders, entrepreneurs, consumers, employees, and business leaders because, it is only a moral imperative, but also a smart business strategy.
“Today’s event once again highlights the importance of gender equality for economic development and growth. It brings attention to the pivotal role the private sector can play in advancing gender equality to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and to raise awareness about the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), which emphasizes the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment”.
It is worth noting that this is not the first time MTN has pledged to bridge the gender divide, in 2020 the telecoms giant signed the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles, pledging its commitment to the advancement of Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, at MTN’s International Women’s Day event.
Also, in August 2021, the company announced a plan to take in 80% women, and 20% men in its graduate development program.
Gender Empowerment is a key strategic component of MTN’s Corporate Social Investment across its footprint. It has made significant contributions towards the empowerment and development of girls and women in the countries in which it operates. It has also launched initiatives that include enabling access to ICT and building the capacity of girls and women in coding, robotics, programming & computer assembling.
MTN understands that gender inequality is way expensive and is costing the world too much, as it seeks to enable more women to assume senior roles in the future, also confronting the early-career gender gap.