08 Jul 2018

Mascom Wireless has been commended for demonstrating commitment to assisting government by increasing access to education and empowering the nation through the establishment of Kitsong centres.

Speaking at the Mascom Kitsong Centre workshop launch in Gaborone recently, Local Government and Rural Development Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi said the centres were key to helping grow the country’s economy as they also provided information for tourists visiting Botswana’s villages and towns.  

The minister said this was part of the company’s contribution to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector as well as its response to the global need of transforming small villages into knowledge based economies vital for Botswana.

She said as the country journeyed towards 2036, knowledge would be the driver of productivity and economic growth.

Dr Venson-Moitoi noted that the centres had not only helped the country create jobs for the youth but also enabled them to be independent and to contribute positively to the communities they lived in.

“I believe that through this initiative our communities can use technology to plan, track the efficacy of solutions and promote their assets (tradition, talent and businesses). And even take the next step to ensure that they’re magnets of the new economy by being Botswana’s new tourism drivers,” she said.

She urged centre operators to maximise on the opportunity and build development bridges by becoming business gurus influencing a societal shift where Botswana citizens would be taken out of extreme poverty.

For her part, Mascom’s Ms Dzene Makhwade-Seboni said centre owners were an important corporate social responsibility stakeholder for the company and brand ambassadors in 110 villages around Botswana.

She said Mascom Wireless had been in the forefront of the telecommunications industry for the past 20 years advocating for change and connecting Batswana to the knowledge, experience and resources they needed to build better lives.

Its aim was to bridge the communication gap between rural and urban areas with  the Kitsong Centre concept at the heart of the transformation.

The workshop, which ended on July 6, was meant to enhance the company’s relationship with centre operators and to provide a platform for sharing ideas, motivating one another as well as to give captains of the industry the opportunity give entrepreneurs information on available opportunities.

Mascom Wireless partnered with government in 2009 to roll out 41 Kitsong centres in 41 villages through the Nteletsa II Rural Telecommunications Development Project.

Due to the project’s success, the company committed to continue improving the lives of young people by establishing 69 more centres around Botswana bringing to 110 the total number of centres in the country. ENDS