By Ndumbe Bell Joseph Gaston in Douala
A one for all, all for one agreement has been signed by a cross-section of corporate (business) entities to broaden and push the boundaries of their corporate social responsibilities to improve the life of society.
This was the initiative of MTN Cameroon and collaborators to reinforce and broaden their social responsibilities in favour of the nation’s sustainable goals, made public in an occasion that took place in Douala last Monday, March 18.
The agreement is characterized by their determination to rally together behind each other’s projects by contributing their expertise, resources and experiences in the domains of education, health, environmental, digital, infrastructural and water concerns, to name a few, which were highlighted to be areas where each of them have already been actively participating for decades now, in conflict and non-conflict areas including disadvantaged neighborhoods of Cameroon.
The corporate entities that have come together to form the One Goal Alliance are Chana’s Assurances, UBA Cameroon, Dangote Cement, Huawei, CEMAC Zone, I.H.S Telecom, MWDDB Cameroon, and of course MTN Cameroon.
They are peculiar in their main activities but have so many things in common especially in the execution of their social responsibilities such as in their contributions all over the nation in the domains of health, education, environment, digital inclusion, clean water, in under privileged areas.
One such peculiarity MTN Cameroon introduced was the yearly contributions of 21 Days of Yello Care that has been operational since 2006. The 21 days of Yello Care is actually funded by the staff where they surrender one percent of their remunerations through the MTN foundation to realise some of their social responsibilities.
These contributions, among others, have won the admiration of others in many ways. The MTN Cameroon CEO Mme Mit’wa Ngambi, who was announced to be the CEO of MTN Africa for the year 2023, before commending the enthusiasm and determination of her colleagues to create the One Goal Alliance at the launching ceremony, said since their coming to Cameroon they have been instrumental in the overall connectivity of more or less 95 percent of the population, digital centres in schools, water availability and so on.
She said that the 21 days of Yello Care naturally attracted the participation of a cross-section of the public. This led to raising FCFA 75 million recently where some projects in Yaounde have been realized. Members of the One Goal Alliance are not force to make financial contributions.
This type of collaboration is the platform on which the One Goal Alliance has been launched. It is to create more impact in their contributions of the sustainable goals of the nation. She also thanked Mr. Akam and all those who contributed to the success of the initiative.
All the CEOs who spoke during the press briefing were very supportive of the principles of the One Goal Alliance and pledged their allegiance as they had earlier endorsed the document digitally.