At its 30th birthday celebration hosted yesterday in Windhoek, Namibia’s premier driver for digitalisation, MTC, reaffirmed its continued national duty of assisting the government in its national development agenda – through various sustainable socio-economic investments.
In his remarks delivered at the event, MTC Managing Director, Dr. Licky Erastus, said while they are proud of MTC’s contribution to the country’s development agenda in past 30years, now more than ever, the telco giant is committed to continue serving with consistency to improve Namibia and the lives its people.
“Yes, we have achieved significant social and economic progress in the past three decades, but the reality demands that we do more. It demands that we do not stop but rather re-invent and innovate to transform lives. We are therefore reaffirming our commitment to aiding, sustainably, sectors such as arts and culture, sports, education, health, poverty alleviation, and entrepreneurship, amongst others. As we celebrate 30 years of bridging the digital gap and bringing world-class ICT services to Namibians, we are cognizant that there is still much that need to be done to improve the lives of all Namibians. Our assurance is that MTC will continue to put the communities and all Namibians first in every investment decision we make because we believe in long term sustainability and the wellbeing of our country and the environment.”
Dr. Erastus emphasized that amongst others, education must be prioritized. “As we journey towards the next 30 years in MTC’s history and that of our country, we must prioritize education so that we prepare a generation of innovators, a generation of servant leaders, a generation that will not tolerate corruption and a generation that will always look after the interest of all Namibians equally. It is our collective responsibility to build that generation by making meaningful investments today.”
Dr. Erastus expressed gratitude to MTC’s stakeholders for the continued support, and reassured MTC’s support to the government.
“Today we celebrate the loyalty of our customers who stood beside us in good and bad times. We celebrate the Namibian government who took a bold decision to start its own mobile telecommunications company. We celebrate all our ambassadors, former, current and future, who wake up every morning to serve all our customers with dedication and commitment.”
In his congratulatory remarks to MTC, Prime Minister, Honourable Elijah Ngurare took time to highlight the importance of data protection and inclusivity. Urging MTC to maintain sovereignty. “We must deliberately have sovereignty on data. We must invariably be able to ensure that our national interest and security is protected and not compromised. Furthermore, we must be inclusive in making sure that every Namibian has equal access to quality connectivity, regardless of their geographical location. MTC has 98% population network coverage, so let us work to bring it to 100% coverage.”
Over the years, MTC has transformed and expanded its horizons to become a leading provider of digital connectivity solutions. This evolution has been marked by numerous achievements, including groundbreaking projects, industry accolades, and the unwavering trust of our clients.
To cite some major achievements, here are a few highlights over the years:
- In 2006, Upgraded network to 3G to achieve higher speeds for smart devices
- 2012 we became the second operator in Africa to launch 4G, followed by 4G LTE throughout Namibia.
- 2016 First African operator to trial 4.5G. MTC started to invest in its future role as a digital services provider.
- In 2017 a N$1 billion 081Every1 campaign launched to bridge the digital divide.
- 2018 Ventured into the enterprise market with cloud and fibre services for businesses and consumers.
- In 2019, we announced the incredible Spectra offering in the Namibian market and gained traction in the fixed-line services market with variety of new products for mobile telecom customers.
- 2021 First Namibian state-owned entity to list on the Nambian Stock Exchange (NSX). Major strategic capex projects launched to support digital transformation.
- 2022 Invested in network expansion and digital transformation to overcome saturation and disruption in the core market.
- 2023 First in Namibia to be certified in six ISO standards and the first in Africa to implement the 2022 version of ISO 27001.
- 2024 Accelerated digital transformation with launch of Namibia’s first 5G mobile network trial in collaboration with Huawei. Windhoek General Administrators Proprietary Limited (WGA), a wholly owned subsidiary, trading as MTC Maris, launched mobile financial services on 4 October 2024 after obtaining an e-money issuer licence on 14 November 2023.
“As we reflect on our journey, we celebrate not only our accomplishments but also the values that have guided us—innovation, integrity, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. These principles have been the cornerstone of our growth and will continue to drive us forward as we embrace new challenges and opportunities.” – Dr. Erastus.