One of the main findings of the new True Value Assessment Report that MTN South Africa released on Friday is that it contributes R76-billion, 17 times its profit, to South Africa’s economy.
The metric of “true value” comes from a methodology devised by consulting firm KPMG, which MTN partnered with in an effort to quantify its overall socioeconomic and environmental impact on South Africa.
At a press conference where they were announcing the findings, MTN South Africa CEO Charles Molapisi said: “Our contribution has a direct impact on the South African ICT sector, resulting in an employment multiplier effect within the sector and other sectors like wholesale and retail.”
Molapisi mentioned that the true value metric can serve as a bridge in discussions between government and big business on matters relating to corporate social responsibility and economic development. Challenging other entities, he said they should also focus on their social impact over and above the bottom line.
Highlighting the growth opportunity, Gauteng MEC for economic development Tasneem stressed that having a hard metric like true value could have on the operator if it used well. “The base [metric] will allow MTN to see what it needs to [do to] meet policy imperatives and bring government and the private sector closer together, lubricating what is traditionally an adversarial relationship,” she said.
Bonang Mohale who is the University of the Free State chancellor Prof and also took part of the conversation, went on to challenge MTN, and big business as a whole, to interrogate the meaning of their “impact” in the context of South Africa’s socioeconomic problems. He added that more deliberate, direct action is required to address the problems the country is faced with.
Mohale said: “To fundamentally change the system of economy, you and I must intervene.”
The true value assessment looked across MTN’s operations, including connectivity, mobile money and corporate social responsibility initiatives.
