‘Create opportunities for young girls and women in STEM’, Antoinette Kwofie, MTN CFO

The Chief Finance Officer (CFO), at MTN Ghana, Antoinette Kwofie, has charged corporate Ghana and stakeholders to invest in creating opportunities for young girls and women who are in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Mrs. Kwofie made this call at the Executive Women’s Network (EWN) Conference when she spoke during a panel discussion on the topic “Leveraging Technology to Create Inclusive Prosperity in Africa – A Shift in Perspective.”

MTN Ghana was the headline sponsor of the 2023 Executive Women’s Network (EWN) conference. The conference, which was held under the theme ‘Be Intentional about Transformation, Growth, Resilience and Agility,’ highlighted the role women play and how this can be enhanced for greater capital gains across sector.

Contributing to a panel discussion, MTN’s CFO, in reiterating the importance of STEM education, said, “Technological advancement and digital innovation remain key drivers of economies globally. STEM remains a critical tool for driving socio-economic and inclusive growth. We need to be intentional about pushing STEM and encouraging more young women to explore careers in the field. In order to achieve this, we have to show them that their dreams are possible, provide mentoring opportunities for them and get them to engage with women who have excelled in the world of STEM.”

The MTN CFO, who is a member of the Executive Women’s Network also highlighted what MTN is doing to promote STEM education in the country. She said, “at MTN, providing digital solutions is at the heart of what we stand for. This is why we continue to partner with other institutions to ensure access to STEM education. In line with this, we have partnered with the Ministry of Communication and Digitalization in the “Girls in ICT” initiative to train about 13,000 girls nationwide. We believe this will help bridge the gender disparity gap and spur inclusive growth”.

In his concluding remarks as co-chairman for the conference, CEO of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh admonished participants at the conference to be courageous and curious about technology. He charged women to stand up and act to have equity at the table.

Participants at the conference were introduced to MTN’s array of technology solutions such as SME Plus, Messenger and Business Manager, Microsoft 365 suite and Business Website. The services are aimed at improving the efficiency of businesses in the country including “Women led” businesses.

The Executive Women Network is a non-profit organization of women in senior management and executive positions in private and public sector organizations/institutions and women entrepreneurs in Ghana.