Accra, Aug. 4, GNA - MTN Ghana has opened a new ICT Centre for the Abossey Okai Traders Association and the entire community as part of efforts to bring quality telecommunication services closer to their door step and also help meet the business needs of the spare parts dealers.

The ICT centre, valued at GH¢65,000, would serve the communication and business needs of over 16,000 members of the Association as well as other people in the community, according to a statement issued by MTN in Accra on Thursday.

It said the facility was equipped with 25 computers and accessories; 4 printers (one multi-purpose colour and three black & white); a projector and screen; 240GB data and three MTN broadband routers, among other items.

The statement said in addition, 200 members of the Association would receive training from INTU-IT, a project partner, for 10 months to sharpen the ICT skills of the members to enable them to take full advantage of the facility and also retrain other members.

It said MTN would provide free internet connectivity and also bear the maintenance cost for all the equipments for the same period.

The centre will also serve as an MTN sales point where the products and services particularly data services will be provided, the statement said, adding that members of the Association would also benefit from a special call service dubbed “Close User Group” which gave reduced call rates among members of a recognised group.

Nana Asantewaa Amegashie, Senior Manager for Consumer Marketing, expressed MTN’s excitement to bring its services close to the Abossey Okai Community.

This, she said, was part of MTN’s commitment to help boost the ICT capacity of SMEs in Ghana through its Business Solutions.

“We at MTN recognise the critical role SME’s play in our nation’s economic growth and development. We are committed to partnering with you all as we provide you with the required support to help your businesses grow,” Nana Amegashie said.

She reminded members of the community to take advantage of the extension period or the SIM cards registration to register their SIMs.

Commenting on the project, the Chairman of the Abossey Okai Traders Association, Mr Joseph Paddy, expressed the gratitude of the group to MTN and pledged that the center would be put to maximum use.

He also assured MTN of proper maintenance of the equipment to enable them to continue to enjoy the benefits of the ICT center.

Mr Theophilus Tettey, Member of Parliament for Ablekuma Central, commended MTN for the ICT facility and other innovative and sustainable projects embarked on by MTN, which were helping to enrich the lives of many.

He encouraged all present to join the biggest telecommunication family to enable them to enjoy all the benefits that came with the service.

This initiative by MTN is expected to address the growing need of members of the Association for data services and in turn enrich the quality of their service delivery to their customers.