MTN Group has announced it will serve as an anchor sponsor at the upcoming Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF) scheduled to take place from 21 - 23 June 2022, in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Forum is hosted as a partnership between the Government of Rwanda and Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council (CWEIC).

The week- long gathering is held every two years on a rotational basis, and as the youngest member, this would be the first time Rwanda hosts the Commonwealth since they joined the committee in 2009.

The CBF is part of the official Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) programme and is touted by organisers as “the first and largest in-person gathering for governments and businesses across the Commonwealth since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

This year’s Forum will address the theme Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating and Transforming.

The MTN Group said it will commit US$230 000 to help advance “initiatives that are geared to strengthen relations between business and government.”

Ralph Mupita, MTN Group President and CEO, said, “As an organisation that is committed to Africa’s sustainable socio-economic development and progress, we are honoured to be supporting this gathering. The engagements that will take place here between government and private sector leaders have potential to create conditions that will help our host governments realise the aspirations under Agenda 2063: The Africa we want.”

Clare Akamanzi, Rwanda Development Board CEO commented: “The Government of Rwanda welcomes MTN as an anchor sponsor to this year’s Commonwealth Business Forum, a unique platform for interaction between governments and the private sector from all Commonwealth countries. We look forward to interacting with MTN Group executives and having meaningful exchanges that lead to practical solutions and generate high level policy recommendations which will set the agenda for Rwanda’s two-year tenure as Chair-in Office of the Commonwealth.”

CHOGM will bring together several Heads of Government and over 5,000 delegates from across the Commonwealth including policy makers, business leaders, innovators across several sectors, global thought leaders and the youth.

Mitwa Ng’ambi, MTN Rwanda CEO, said, “We are pleased to be a partner to the Commonwealth Business Forum. We look forward to the meaningful connections that will be made and to exchanging knowledge with Heads of States, Policy Makers, and Business Leaders among others. This will create the grounds by which we can propel further, our core belief that everyone deserves a modern connected life on the basis of sustainability for a common future.”