South African based and Africa’s leading mobile operators MTN will sponsor the Highway Africa conference next week at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa.
The event slated for September 9 to 11 is targeted at boosting media ICT as well as at nurturing leadership in the developing African media.
MTN corporate executive affairs officer Rich Mkhondo said the conference would give the company an opportunity to promote the media by highlighting on the advantages and disadvantages of ICT in Africa.
MTN aims to create a healthy and strong relationship with media practitioners to stir Africa’s socio-economic progress.
Mkhondo said he expects the event to be full of innovation and media should strive to progress in technology world which changes so fast.
Reports from Highway Africa suggest that this year will mark the event’s sixteenth anniversary since unveiling, and the tenth for MTN to sponsor.
Highway Africa director Chris Kabwato noted that the response has been great and he expects more than 600 delegates to attend.
MTN released the quarterly report in March 2012 showing it has more than 170 million subscribers. The firm also reported a 6 million net increase as compared to December 2011.
More than 13 countries now use MTN’s mobile money the MTN Mobile Money including South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo-Brazzaville, Liberia, Benin, Guinea Guinea-Bissau, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Yemen and Cyprus use MTN as a mobile service provider.
The three-day event will attract journalists, heads of media houses and corporate representatives from Africa.
This year’s theme will be “Africa Rising? How the Media Frame the Continent’s Geopolitics, Trade and Economic Growth.”
