by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE MTN Foundation has expanded financial support to an information and communications technology (ICT) challenge as part of efforts to shape the future generation of South African digital entrepreneurs.
Some 12 digital innovators will be rewarded, in a special ICT Challenge addition to the 2020 Enactus National Competition.
This is up from six in 2019.
The University of KwaZulu-Natal has emerged as the winner of the just-concluded 2020 Enactus virtual national competition. UKZN will represent South Africa at the Enactus Virtual World Cup 2020 from September 8-12.
Last’s national victor, the Durban University of Technology (DUT), finished the runner up to UKZN.
The MTN ICT Special Challenge winners were the Central University of Tshwane, University of Venda, DUT, Nelson Mandela University, the University of Western Cape and Walter Sisulu University.
Others are the University of Free State, University of Johannesburg, University of Pretoria, Vaal University of Technology, Rhodes and Mangosuthu University of Technology.
The identified university teams have won R70 000 each towards support for the app development of their winning concept
Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi, General Manager: MTN SA Foundation, said the competition continued shaping future generations of entrepreneurial leaders.
“Digital innovation and education were definitely the outright winners at this year’s event,” she said.
The official said the overall objective was to unlock opportunities for innovative solutions, unconventional careers and create new industries and ecosystems.
“We aim to continue giving tertiary education students additional support to develop digital solutions to address socio-economic challenges across the agriculture, education and health sectors,” Mtunzi-Hairwadzi explained.
MTN has supported the Enactus national competition for seven years.
A highlight of the 2020 Enactus SA National Competition was a panel discussion that Rob Shuter, MTN Group CEO, participated in, titled, “Leading Change at the Edge of Chaos.”
Experts highlighted that the NextGen Leaders of Enactus are, and will be, on the front line of economic recovery around the world.
Krishna Chetty, MTN SA’s General Manager for Network Deployment, also participated in the Action Leader Panel discussion, highlighting how the 5G network has become a necessity in today’s world.
– CAJ News