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Publication: Business Day - Empowerment Page: 87 Title: MEDIA, TELECOMS & ICT Publish Date: 01 September 2019

Author: Mark van Dijk

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>PC05146>xm<x00hozm MEDIA TELECOMS & ICT9

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ICT

The telecommunications sector

— potentially a huge driver for

SA'S economy 7 must ensure

that its impact on society is

meaningful and long lasting ll

By Mark van DijkA

PHOTOGRAPHY




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lCT

Ihe president ofSAMuch ofthc solution to that problem lies Stella Ndabcni»Abrahams, current Minister

delivered a clear message 5 in the private sector. which drives techno- " ofCommunications,Telecommunications:to the global International logical innovation and works in and with and Postal Services, calls ‘hit and run‘ social

Telecommunication Union local communities. In SA — as in many investment, where (as she said in an SABC(ITU) con ferencc. ‘Given the : dcvolopingand developed markets — the radio interview) ‘you train them and you

fundamental impact 5 private sector has evolved over the past leave them’. The piles ofcomputers sitting.

of telecommunications on society and the 5 decade or so, integrating philanthropy into in remote rural schools, donated over the

immense historical imbalances, telecom- its core business objectives. Now, more than years by well-meaning corporates that didn’t

munications issues must become part of ever, social impact and social outcomes are realise there was no decent internet accessthe general public debate of development i in the spotlight, especially as companies ; and didn't stick around to see that the school

policies,‘ he said. ‘Telecommunications look to recruit the new. tech-savvy wave staffdidn't know how to operate the machinescannot be simply treated as one commercial of employees. Seine 40% ofrespondents to

. are evidence enough of that. And that‘s why,

sector ofthe economy, to be left to the forces Deloitte’s 2018 Millennial Survey said that in recent years, the focus ofCSR initiatives

of the free market.’ The kicker? It wasn‘t the primary goal ofbusinesses should be to has shifted to become more inclusive of

Cyril Ra maphosa speaking in 2019; it was 5 ‘improve society’, rather than to make profits. women and youth, and to leave a lasting,

then»president Nelson Mandela, addressing So where are we with that? Xoliswa skillsbased impact.

ITU Telecom ’95. : Kakana, founder and CEO of ICT-Works, ‘Training people in digital skills is as im-That was a quarter ofa century ago: an blasted SA’s ICT sector recently for having portant as rolling out infrastructure to cover

eternity in ICT terms. Windows 95 was ‘not transformed in the way that our demo-‘

cveryone,‘ then-Minister ofTelecommuni-the cutting edge ofoperating systems, the cracy so richly promised. The future belongs cations and Postal Services Siyabonga Cwelc

internet was only starting to kick off, and ; to those who recognise that young Africa ns, said ahead of the 20181TU Tclecom World3the Nokia 3210 mobile phone was still the particularly women, will drive the next set conference, hosted in Durban. ‘Some private-stuffofsciencc fiction. But while telecoms ofinnovations in this sector , a sector that j sector companies are partnering with African

technology has evolved exponentially since is too important to be left only to white men,’ 5 countries to scale up digital skills training.

then, Mandela’s message still holds true. - she wrote, echoing the words of former All these initiatives are important because

A recent report commissioned by Siemens 3 Communications Minister Minamoloko they facilitate the meaningful participationfound that digitalisation could add a potential Kubayi-Ngubane, who described women‘s : ofAfricans in the digital economy, andR4 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2026, with E participation in the ICT sector as being empower them to do so in their own terms.’the greatest potential for driving that ‘woefully low‘. Telecoms giant Vodacom, for example,innovation lying in SA.A1l that is lacking, Indeed, transformation and develop- empowers unemployed youth with [CT

according to the report, is a sufficiently - ment have been slow in some areas. And skills through its Vodacom Youth Academy.

skilled workforce. there has also been a fair amount ofwhat Launched in 2012 by the Vodacom Founda—

tion, the Youth Academy trains unemployed

5 youth, for free, in ICT skills. It then furtherdevelops them into ICT entrepreneurs, who

‘are able to assistwith the installation oflT

‘equipment and provide instruction in high-

_3 end computer skills at Vodacom’s Teacher

‘We are well aware that the training is Trainingcentrcs and connected schools.1 ‘Corporatcs such as Vodacom do not exist

not a silver bulletfor the unemployment ‘ in a vacuum,’ Ta kalani Netshitenzhe, chief

officer for corporate affairs at the Vodacom

challenge, but itprovidesyouth with 5 Group, said at a recent graduation ceremony.,S ‘We exist in societies with high levels ofin»

a solidfoundation’ equality and abject poverty, and therefore it

g is incumbent upon us to partnerthe public

‘ sector and [N605] and come up with inno-

vative solutions to assist government to deal

. with some ofthe socioeconomic problems

: plaguingoursociety.‘Netshitenzhe added that the initiative

forms part of Vodacom‘s commitment to




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skills development andjob creation oppor- recently. ‘Our bursary programme, ourtunities. ‘We are well aware that the training graduate programme and our Seeds for the

:is not a silverbullet for the unemploylnent Future study trip to China will all benefit

challenge,’ she said. ‘But it provides youth from greater representation ofwomen and.

with a solid foundation upon which to build girls. While our current projects supportboth their academic future and help increase 5 students at tertiary level. we are planning

their chances of getti ng employment, because a bl'ingiwgirl-child-to-work project, where.

they have skills that are required by the 2 we will invite girls from high schools around

digital econolny and knowledge society.‘ our businesses to visit our campus to view

In September 2018 Vodacom completed our latest technologies. and hopefully

a No.4- billion BEE transaction with_ inspire more women tojoin the sector.’

YeboYethu. in the biggest deal of its kind Traditional CSlt projects still have their

Iin SA’s ICT sector to date. Verushca l‘illay, place. MTN, for one, has donated more thandirector in the corporate and commercial 7 000 bicycles to school children across the

practice at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr. which 2 country; and Dark Fibre Africa's CSR workacted as lead legal adviser to both parties. ' includes the installation, management and

explains the significance ofthe deal. maintenance offibrc—optic cables at a school.

‘In addition to delivering the best returns outside Pretoria.

to shareholders of any listed BEE deal. the Telecoms service provider lnovo is taking

deal will see significant value being delivered it a step further, using shareholder SAAD_

to more than 85 000 black shareholders and — the private equity investment wing ofthe

8 500 Vodacom staff,‘ she says. ‘By ultimately Tree of Life Group — to channel the company's

transferring economic ownership into the : profits and skillsinto meaningfulprojectshands ofblaek South Africans, deals ofthis driven by public benefit organisations (PBOs).

nature are vehicles for the practical fulfil- : ‘SAAD has acquired a nowcontrollingstake in

ment oftransformation.' 1 lnovo,‘ lnovo CEO Wynand Smit confirmed in

MTN, meanwhile, is looking to empower, January ‘As a result, a significant proportionor at least recognisewomen through its of profits made by lnovo will now be distri-

_MTN Women in ICT - Partnership for 3 hated by the Tree of Life Foundation to the

Change Awards. Now in its fourth year, the PM) sector. This is something we are really

awards aim to showcase women who have ' passionate about as a company: using thecontributed to ICT development in the work we do as a vehicle to help others.’

spheres ofleadership, SM E development lnovo is also allocating a percentage of

and innovation. every employee‘s time to work on develop-

‘At MTN. we believe that gender diversity is ‘ ment projects. ‘Rather than simply paying

crucial to growth in the ICT sector. and we are lip service to CSR initiatives once a year,committed to help drive change,’ says Jacqui this will then become an intrinsic part of

O’Sullivan. executive for corporate affairs at our DNA.‘ according to Sm it.

MTN South Africa. ‘Young women, and those ‘Every employee can now work with the

already in the profession. need strong mew ‘ knowledge that our profitability is beingtors to inspire them and, importantly, also to put towards creating remarkable change

add their unique perspectives to the develop in South Africa. and that this strategy is1

ment ofproducts. Without this perspective, a meaningful one that will have a positive

future design and innovation will simply impact on our communities and the worldnot be able to talk to the broader market out 3 at large. It’s a value that is increasingly pre—

there. ofwhich women are a key component.’ . valent in the broader workplace: to move

Chinese manufacturer Iluawei is also 3 beyond workingjust for a salary, to a placeworking to draw more young women into where you become personally involved in

SA’s telecoms space. ‘We have set a quota_ influencing the fabric ofsociety, for good.‘

for 50% female intake in three ofour key Sounds like music to the ears of the

youth intake/trainingprograms,‘ Huawei respondents to Deloitte's Millennial Survey_

South Africa C00 Christina Naidoo noted . and to the communities who’ll benefit. ID


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