Young people must equip themselves with the skills, resilience and sense of responsibility required to take over the mantle of leadership and drive Ghana’s development, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer of MTN Ghana, Adwoa Wiafe, has urged.
Speaking at the 2026 Youth Empowerment Summit (YES), organised by the Martha Inspires Foundation in Tamale, Ms Wiafe said inheriting the “torch” from the current generation was not merely a privilege but a responsibility that demanded preparation, hard work and resilience.
“The torch comes with responsibility,” she told hundreds of students from selected senior high, vocational and technical schools in the Greater Tamale area. “For you to be able to take that torch and carry it, you have to prepare yourself.”
She added: “They have to be able to be patient and be resilient because that torch, as I said, comes with responsibility, and responsibility comes with hard work.”
The summit, held on Saturday, August 15, 2026, at the Sanctuary of Wind and Fire AG Auditorium in Tamale, was the 11th edition of the annual youth-focused programme organised by the Martha Inspires Foundation.
Held under the theme “Passing the Torch,” the summit exposed participants to career guidance, entrepreneurship, mentorship and other practical areas intended to help them make informed choices about their education, careers and future.
MTN’s longstanding partnership
Ms Wiafe said MTN Ghana’s decision to continue supporting the summit was rooted in the company’s commitment to investing in young people and helping create opportunities for them to thrive.
She described the summit as an important platform for reaching large numbers of young people simultaneously with knowledge, mentorship and opportunities.
“For MTN, our purpose is, yes, we are here to do business, but not only that. We also want to make sure that we are contributing positively to society, and a key part of that contribution is to young people,” she said.
According to her, MTN’s sustained partnership with the summit forms part of its broader commitment to bridging the unemployment gap, developing employable skills and creating platforms through which young people can engage, innovate and create.
MTN has supported the Martha Inspires Youth Empowerment Summit for several years, with its partnership reaching at least eight years by the 2025 edition.
The reflects a sustained investment in a platform that has consistently brought young people together with accomplished professionals, entrepreneurs and mentors.
Ms Wiafe said MTN was particularly interested in initiatives capable of transferring knowledge and experience to the next generation.
She added that MTN’s interventions in youth development extend beyond the summit to initiatives such as the Bright Scholarship Programme, which supports students pursuing tertiary education and skills training, as well as programmes designed to help small businesses develop digital and entrepreneurial capabilities.
She disclosed that 1,220 people were currently benefiting from MTN scholarships, with beneficiaries receiving support including tuition, laptops, accommodation and stipends.
The company’s 2026 Bright Scholarship programme, which is open to students in public tertiary institutions as well as vocational and technical skills programmes, is also focused heavily on STEM and skills development.
Ms Wiafe urged the students to understand that the ultimate purpose of empowerment was not simply personal advancement but the ability to inspire and equip others.
“The torch has to be passed on to somebody else,” she said. “And it takes you inspiring the next generation to be able to also take it and do what is needed within that generation and to move a society forward.”
She identified responsibility, hard work and preparation as three essential qualities young people would need as they prepared to assume greater responsibilities in society.
Founder and CEO of the Martha Inspires Foundation, Martha Anabila, said the 2026 summit marked an important milestone for the organisation, having reached its 11th edition.
She expressed gratitude to the young people and partners, particularly MTN Ghana, whose continued support she said had helped sustain the initiative.
“This year has been very impactful. We looked at ‘Passing the Torch’,” Ms Anabila said.
She explained that the theme was particularly relevant because it focused on the responsibility of the older generation to transfer knowledge, experience and opportunities to younger people, while ensuring that the next generation was capable of sustaining what it inherited.
Ms Anabila said one of the most significant outcomes of the summit over the years had been the ability of participants to discover their potential and purpose.
“They’ve been able to identify their potential and their purpose,” she said, explaining that many young people initially pursued educational and career paths simply because others were doing the same.
She said the summit had helped some students rethink those choices and focus instead on areas where their abilities and interests lay.
Beyond career guidance, Ms Anabila said the summit had created networks through which participants had subsequently accessed jobs, scholarships and other opportunities.
“It may not even be about getting maybe a laptop or money from a programme. When you come and meet somebody and a network and a relationship comes, they can even give you a job later, give you a scholarship later,” she said.
Beyond the summit
Ms Anabila stressed that the Youth Empowerment Summit was only one component of the Martha Inspires Foundation’s broader youth development work.
She said the organisation also operates a youth centre where children engage in reading, writing, robotics, phonetics, games and visual learning, while other initiatives include the Men’s Conference, Young Inspirers Forum, public speaking coaching, community book donations and a Boys Empowerment Programme.
“This is like having a festival out of the many things that we do as a tradition or as a culture,” she said of the summit. “The Youth Summit is like bringing all our stakeholders together just to have a conversation.”
The Martha Inspires Foundation’s stated mission includes reducing child illiteracy and inspiring and empowering young people through reading and mentorship.
Source: www.kumasmail.com
