Vodafone to establish foundation to spearhead social development (Back Page)

Story: Lucy Adoma Yeboah
VODAFONE Groups Plc has announced its intention to establish a Vodafone Ghana Foundation, with an initial commitment of £200,000.
The principal aim of the foundation is to contribute to the Ghanaian society by providing direct grants to locally registered charity organisations, as well as global non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with suitable social investment aim and objectives.
The foundation will focus mainly on projects associated with health, particularly in the rural communities and secondary education in areas where enrolment is low and infrastructure is inadequate.
The Head of Corporate Communications and Customer Care of the Ghana Telecom (GT), Major Albert B. Don-Chebe, told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the foundation was expected to begin operations before the end of this year.
He said the company had started making moves to get the foundation registered according to the laws of the land, adding that enquiries so far made had revealed that the process of registration would not be long to complete.
In an earlier press release, Major Don-Chebe said Vodafone was committed to social investment in the communities in which the company operated.
He explained that the new foundation would be supported by the parent Vodafone Foundation, which had developed a unique network of 23 foundations around the world and within the last 12 months granted £36.6 million to support charitable programmes in the communities in which Vodafone operated.
Major Don-Chebe said by investing in the community, the Vodafone Ghana Foundation would seek to make a contribution towards poverty reduction and strengthening the conditions for the most vulnerable members of society to participate in the country’s future economic growth.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vodafone Group Plc, Mr Vittorio Colao, stated that “Vodafone is very proud of its unique global network of corporate foundations which are making a social commitment in the communities in which the company operates. I am delighted that Vodafone Ghana will be establishing its own foundation so soon after closing the transaction, becoming the 23rd local foundation in the company’s network”.
Vodafone is said to be the world’s leading international mobile communications group with approximately 269 million proportionate customers as of June 30, 2008. The company currently has equity interests in 27 countries across five continents and more than 40 partner networks worldwide.