Earlier on Monday, 12th May, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Karl Toriola led a delegation of MTN Nigeria team to the Executive Governor of Abia State, His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Abia State Government for a strategic partnership on digital transformation of the entire State.
Governor Otti thanked the MTN team for choosing Abia for such all important strategic partnership and investment. He recalled how the partnership was proposed during the early days of the Government in 2023 to establish Abia State as a leading digitally-enabled economy in Nigeria, leveraging Technology to drive efficient governance, youth empowerment and socio-economic growth. The Governor promised to provide every support to make the partnership a success story.
During a presentation by the MTN technical team, they outlined the key 5 highlights of the partnership to include;
1. To ensure that the entire population of Abia State will have 3G broadband access in the minimum.
2. To provide dedicated cloud computing and other value added services to Abia State Government.
3. To deliver a digital marketplace, including online shops and other e-commerce resources, to merchants in Aba, Umuahia, Ohafia and other major commercial locations across the State.
4. To implement a device ownership scheme including – MiFis, smartphones, tablets and laptops, for mobile Internet and voice service for civil servants.
5. To provide 4G and 5G coverage in principal cities as agreed with Abia State Government.
The team later presented an Aba brand e- commerce platform developed and funded by MTN to be made available to merchants across the State to market and sell their products and services using online marketing tools including ownership of online shops, guaranteed payment system and logistics. The MTN team offered to make, ‘The Abia to the World Market Platform’ available to Abia merchants at no cost.
In his speech, the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Karl Toriola expressed his excitement for the unfolding partnership with the most illustrious State in Nigeria. He recalled his personal encounters with His Excellency, Dr. Alex Otti and assured the Government team of his commitment to see the project through to ensure access to digital governance, digital commerce and wide network coverage in Abia major cities and communities.
The meeting was well attended by senior Government appointees including the Deputy Governor of Abia State, His Excellency, Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Kenneth Kalu, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Pastor Caleb Ajagba, Ph.D, and others.
