MTN Group has partnered the GSMA Mobile 360 Series-Africa event with a platinum sponsorship for this year’s event to be held in Cape Town, South Africa from November 5 through to 7th 2014.
The mobile event is expected to attract key stakeholders from the mobile and adjacent industries to examine practical steps to help bring about collaboration in the coordinating and enabling of policies in the bid to promote digital and financial inclusion.
Speaking on the partnership with GSMA, Chris Maroleng from MTN Group said, “MTN is at the coalface of the mobile evolution underway in the majority of our markets, where we are enabling customers to access financial and digital services through mobile devices”.
He said the sponsorship of the Mobile 360-Africa event provides an opportunity for MTN to take an active role in engagements that seek to move the continent closer to realising the promise of mobile.
Mobile 360-Africa will serve as an extension of previously established GSMA events, including the Mobile for Development Summit which was held for the first time in November last year and Mobile Money for the Unbanked Leadership Forum, established in 2009.
The two events will be featured in the upcoming Mobile 360-Africa event as co-located programs and will showcase the progress of already established initiatives.
The event seeks to reduce the digital divide in many African countries and offer access to essential education, skills and finance to create flourishing local digital economies to improve development in Africa with mobile connectivity.
According to the GSM Association, the Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the fastest-growing regions globally, with the number of mobile subscribers growing by 18 per cent annually over the last five years.
GSMA will also be holding its Connected Women Africa conference in conjunction with Mobile 360-Africa in efforts to explore how the industry can elevate the female mobile economy and also provide a platform highlighting socio-economic benefits of women inclusion in the mobile industry.
