Areeba donates one billion cedis to Ghana@50

Accra, March 2, GNA - Scancom Ghana Limited, operators of Areeba GSM mobile phone network, on Friday presented a cheque for one billion cedis to the Ghana@50 Secretariat.

The donation brings Areeba's total contributions to the Secretariat's approved and endorsed activities to almost three billion cedis.
Ms. Mawuena Dumor, Corporate Services Executive of the Company, said Friday's donation "brings our total contributions in terms of corporate social responsibility over the past 10 years to 30 billion cedis."
She noted that Areeba had remained the best corporate citizen for four years running on account of its 700 million cedis sponsorship for 400 students at all levels of academic pursuit, 20 million US dollars for the Weija Water Project and other investments in cash and kind. She said Areeba shared the joy of Ghana in the celebration of her 50th anniversary and also expressed the company's gratitude to Ghanaians for their patronage of Areeba services.
Ms. Dumor assured the public that Areeba would continue to provide customer solution-driven product services and also continue to support government in its development agenda.
Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby noted Areeba's contribution to the Weija Water Project in particular and questioned the rationale for the recent public debate whether Areeba should be made to pay tax on that 20 million US dollars or not.
He said responsible corporate citizens like Areeba and others should be given a pat on the back instead of being taxed for making huge contributions to national development.
In a related development Anglo-Gold Ashanti also presented a cheque for 400,000 US dollars to the Ghana@50 Secretariat to specifically sponsor the annual Kwame Nkrumah Lecture under the auspices of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana. The lecture was one of the legacy project initiatives of the Ghana@50 Committee.
Mr Ernest Abankroh, Country Manager of Anglo-Gold Ashanti, said the money would be used for research and scholarship into Africa's contribution to global development. 02 March 07