MTN Uganda awards outstanding women, pledges to continue supporting women in Business (WiB).
28/03/2015
The 2015 edition of MTN Women in Business Awards have seen Mrs. Barbara Ofwono, the proprietor of Victorious Education Services scoop the overall Award of MTN Women in Business SME CEO of the year, recognition for the outstanding use of MTN Business’s overall service proposition to grow her business from one small outfit to the current chain of Victorious schools.
Other winners, who walked away with accolades at a dinner held at Serena Hotel Saturday night, were Lindsay Handler, the Managing Director of Fenix International who took the MTN Women in Business Award for Excellence in Financial Services Award. The award recognizes the Company’s outstanding use of MTN’s Financial services (Mobile Money) proposition to grow her business to greater heights.
The third Award went to Kembambazi Sabiiti, the country manager for Amadeus Travel Company in the Category of MTN Business Excellence in ICT. Amadeus Travel Company was recognized for its outstanding use of the MTN Business ICT proposition to grow her business to greater heights.
The winners received a lucrative work trip to South Africa to meet the most successful SME’s in their respective categories, Free MTN Office Wi-Fi for six months to support their businesses, free activation and subscription of the MTN Close User Group service offering for six months, five free MTN Fixed lines and free hosting for a period of one year at MTNs Mutundwe Data center. In addition, they received free advertising value of up to 20million shillings for three months, from NTV Uganda, one month’s free advertising from Radio One station, courtesy of the Guest of Honour, the Hon. Maria Kiwanuka, free business advisory services from the Uganda Development Bank and free Strategic plan review services as well as 50% discount on advertising placed in the Summit Business Magazine from Summit Consulting Limited.
MTN Uganda has been at the forefront of supporting Business communities in Uganda through its MTN Business training programs for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) aimed at providing the right expertise for SME’s to start up new business ventures and to ensure optimum output and profitability to grow and sustain their businesses. This program has over the years been extended to a broader spectrum of Women in Business.
Addressing the guests that comprised of over 300 professional Women in Business at the dinner, MTN Uganda CEO Brian Gouldie encouraged Women in Business to take advantage of MTN’s wide range of digital products and services, as well as its robust network coverage and reliable experience which MTN has invested in to grow their businesses.
“This consistent investment has delivered an unrivalled customer experience in the business sector, reflected in the increased use of MTN’s unique Enterprise products and solutions, including data services, which has resulted in the growth of the MTN customer base to well over 10.4 million subscribers. MTN Uganda continues to focus on delivering an exemplary Customer experience, Superior Quality of service and a Competitive market proposition which has met our customers’ needs and improved long-term Shareholder returns” Gouldie said.
The CEO said since MTN embarked on the SME training program, over 1000 SMEs across the region have been empowered and most of the time, the program has had an estimated 40% representation from female participants. He added that MTN’s vision for 2015 is to add value in the lives of its customers through its innovative and segmented offerings, a task MTN is committed to seeing through to successful implementation.
Gouldie added: “Over the years we have endeavored to lead the way as a catalyst for change in the lives of our customers. The awards tonight, are testimony to the fact that MTN Uganda is championing the upliftment and empowerment of Women using technology. We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to making positive and lasting change in the lives of women.
At the event, MTN also announced the launch of a new program initiated by MTN, called “Yello Rose”. A partnership with outstanding Ugandan Women who excel in their various fields to provide a platform for them to reach out and collaborate with other Women with a passion for driving positive change. This initiative will enable these Women to inspire, coach and mentor other women and together transform the broader Ugandan society. We are tapping into a special passion that women have naturally exhibited towards nurturing and transforming society.
Explaining further about the Yello Rose initiative, MTN Chief Marketing Officer Mapula Bodibe said every year in March, the MTN “Yello Rose” Committee will identify and select female role models in Uganda to become MTN Yello Roses, who will each be challenged to identify and invest in a relevant cause, spearheaded by other Women that will uplift Ugandan communities. The aim of this is to ensure meaningful and sustainable development and advancement for millions of Ugandan Women. The Yello Roses will be expected to report on how they have used the investment to make a difference in the communities they have invested in.
Speaking at the event, the MTN Women in Business Guest of Honour, the Hon. Maria Kiwanuka applauded MTN for creating a platform through its wide products and services range which has given women the opportunity to rise and shine in business, adding that the awards truly demonstrated MTN Uganda’s acknowledgement of the important role played by Ugandan Women in the social and economic development of the country.
Kiwanuka applauded the business sector and particularly female entrepreneurs for driving the growth of the economy. She highlighted the fact that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have over the years continued to drive the phenomenal growth of the economy and business sector in Uganda and have therefore formed the backbone of Uganda’s economic growth with over 60% of revenue being generated by medium sized companies today.
In addition, gracing the elegant event were the following distinguished women and men who have excelled in their various capacities and served as judges on the awards, helping MTN to appropriately select women who have excelled in using technology to enable success in business, delivering on the theme of the awards for 2015, “Innovation and technology enabling success in SME”; namely Agnes Konde, Managing Director NTV Uganda, Partricia Adongo Ojangole, Managing Director Uganda Development Bank, Mustapha B Mugisa, President, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Uganda Chapter, Dr. Maggie Kigozi, President, Business and professional Women (BPW) Kampala, Uganda and Joseph Baliddawa, President, Institute of Corporate Governance of Uganda.
Through the Women in Business Awards, The MTN SME Training and now the MTN Yello Rose program, MTN aims to develop a critical mass of female leaders that will make a positive and lasting impact in the country.
About MTN Uganda
Launched in 1998, MTN Uganda is the leading communications operator in Uganda, offering Mobile and Fixed telecommunications, Mobile Money Services and Internet Service Provisioning. As of 31 March 2014, MTN Uganda recorded 9.5 million subscribers across Uganda. Visit us at and for our football fans Customers can also follow us on and for assistance.
About the MTN Group
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a leading emerging market operator, connecting subscribers in 22 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: “MTN.” As of 31 March 2014, MTN recorded 210.1 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. More info on
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