Airtel Ghana says it continues to be committed and passionate about the educational development of the nation’s youngsters, not just academically but in other areas as well. Airtel says it will thus continue to work hand in hand with the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Youth and Sports to promote football and other sports which serve as a unifying factor in the country and appeals to the country’s youth.

These were contained in a release following the launch of the second season of one of Airtel Ghana’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, Airtel Rising Stars (ARS) in Accra. Airtel Rising Stars is a sports talent initiative introduced by Airtel that seeks to discover and nurture talented under 17 years male and female footballers who otherwise would have gone unnoticed and untapped. The initiative runs in all Airtel operations across Africa and seeks to bring to light the skills of these young and talented ones by giving them the platform to become world class football stars.

Speaking at the launch of this year’s program, the Managing Director of Airtel Ghana, Philip Sowah said Airtel is keen about sports and has shown sincere interest in sports development in the country. This commitment, he said, is derived from the conviction that sports can serve as a significant tool to improving the overall health standards, as well as serve as an instrument to nation building. “Our association with football was an easy decision. Football in Africa elicits passion, fun and unity. Airtel wants to be an integral part of our communities and to the things we hold most dear – Football and Education”.

Mr. Sowah added that the success of last year’s edition spurred Airtel Ghana to continue with the initiative. “We have one of the winners of the first edition featuring prominently in the national under-17 female team the Black Maidens; another plays for a premiership team here in Ghana; and indeed some of the lads were also involved in trials leading to selections into the Black Starlets”, he said.

President of the Ghana Football Association, Kwasi Nyantakyi applauded Airtel Ghana for the Airtel Ghana for the ARS initiative. According to him the coming of the Airtel Rising Stars initiative is timely especially as the Ghana Football Association is focusing on colts’ football development to ensure a consistent feed of football players for the various national teams. He thus called on other corporate bodies to emulate the Airtel Rising Stars concept to help grow football at the grassroots level.

Samsung, Multi Media Group, and Happy FM are supporting Airtel Ghana with various products and airtime for ARS with the Ghana Football Association providing technical expertise. This year’s program will be run in a zonal format culminating with a national event to be held in Accra. The country will be divided into two zones. Zone 1 will comprise the three northern regions with Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions while Zone 2 will include the Eastern, Volta, Central, Greater Accra and Western Regions. Zone 1 event will take place in Kumasi and Zone 2 will be in Cape Coast. Winners will then meet in the national contest in Accra. However, this year will also include an exciting new inter-country tournament to be held in Nairobi, following the national tournaments. The inter-country tournament will be held over a period of four days and will see the top girls and boys teams from each participating country compete against each other for the title of Airtel Rising Stars African Champion.

Mr. Sowah adds that “we decided to include the inter-country tournament this year to enable the youth in our markets to connect with each other – both culturally and through their passion for the sport – using a common platform. We believe that this will have a long-term positive impact on the players and on their game.” From there, Airtel will sponsor 4 boys and 2 girls to an African country, yet to be determined for a one week soccer clinic.